Slipping
by radioboca
Summary: What if Leia's Force powers had manifested as the Death Star targeted Alderaan?
1. Chapter 1

Leia had been sleeping—passed out, really—when they came for her. For how long, she didn't know: she only remembered a brief moment where the agony reached a fever pitch that exploded into a blissful nanosecond of realization that she had won (for now) before her body finally let go. It had been long enough that she had some of her energy back. She wondered briefly if they'd given her some kind of drugs to help her focus on her present situation. Probably. It didn't matter though. She could ignore the raging hunger and thirst now that the bewildering dizziness was gone for the moment. The whole situation had now gone on long enough that regaining some of her dignity was like water in an oasis: not enough to save her, but enough to keep her going for just a little longer. Just until she knew whether her plot had worked. Hopefully the realization would come as the space station disintegrated around her.

"This way, Princess." Vader's voice bounced off the metal walls. It was an unnecessary order: the two stormtroopers who had barged into her cell had kept a firm grip on her arms as they guided her through the corridors. She had a habit of counting floors when riding lifts, and she frowned slightly as she reached 50…60….where the hell were they going now? Were they going to toss her out of an airlift? She held back on a hysterical giggle at the thought. Instead, she spent the time pondering witty retorts that would serve as last words before they killed her. Since childhood, Leia had a morbid secret fantasy about writing her own obituary, and they usually included a pithy retort tossed out to some miserable dictator (why had she always assumed she'd be executed by the Empire? Maybe she was clairvoyant, she thought with another mirthless smirk).

The lift jerked to a stop and the stormtroopers yanked her forward before the doors even fully opened. It took immense self-control to keep from gasping. This was the bridge.

The dizziness and nausea, which had been kept at bay by whatever they had pumped into her while she lay in a semi-coma in her cell, slammed back into her like a tsunami. For a second, she willed herself to vomit before realizing that dry heaves would do little to ease her discomfort. Her chest clenching, she peeked over at a bank of controls manned by insect-like officers staring deliberately at blinking readouts on the consoles in front of them. Perfectly disciplined, they didn't even glance up as Vader lead the group over to where a uniformed officer stood waiting in front of an enormous viewscreen.

Anxieties had plagued Leia as a child. Her parents had been patient, encouraging her to share her feelings and seek out their comfort when she was afraid, but even as a small child she had noticed their unease when she complained of terrifying panics that inexplicably preceded disasters large and small- a quake on the southern continent, or a terrible speeder accident that claimed the life of a household staffer. By the time she was ten years old, she could no longer stand how her parents' fear reverberated when she shared her vague concerns. So she stopped. But she could never quite block out the sick, hot ball of fire that lodged itself in her chest and throat and then spread through her whole body until whatever nasty event came to fruition.

That familiar sensation slammed into her with the force of an out of control landspeeder as she was dragged forward. Her body shaking, on fire. Something terrible was about to happen.

Reverting to an old coping habit, she pictured her anxiety as a physical entity. She willed it to leave her arms, her legs, her face and jaw…shrinking, shrinking. Often she completed this exercise by imagining the fire in her body as the flame on a candle, which she would blow out before moving forward with her tasks. But now, it merely became a dense, tight, hot point in her chest. That would have to do.

Leia forced herself to ignore the sound of Vader's loud breathing- she had concentrated on it as a way to keep herself from blurting out the location of the Rebel base, and now it only reminded her of the abuse of the last few hours? Days? She felt a burst of pride when she managed to blurt out one of the signature lines that dominated her fantasies of a dignified death.

"Governor Tarkin. I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board." Had she not been fighting so hard to control the overwhelming terror- or was it rage-hammering her body, she might have taken a moment to silently congratulate herself for fitting two insults into a single statement. Even if they were both a little juvenile.

As Tarkin responded, she found herself only catching brief portions of his little speech. The tight heat in her body was building up in waves. The torture of the previous hours (days?) was still fresh, and she could feel Vader's hands on her shoulders as a crushing weight. But her internal panic quickly overwhelmed even the worst memories, dominating every sense.

"…execution…" She heard Tarkin say, "…operational…"

And then, "Alderaan."

She was dashed back to reality. What had he said?

"I have chosen to test this station's destructive power on your home planet of Alderaan."

That was it. The source of that burning, choking pain that been building since she had been dragged out of her cell was suddenly intensely obvious. That son of a bitch was going to try to blow up her kriffing planet.

No. Kriffing. Way.

Everything slowed. She heard herself begging, bargaining, knowing it wouldn't work. Dantooine, she said, knowing all the while it was a shot in the dark. Of course it didn't work.

The heat increased, a sun starting to go nova.

Then suddenly, as Vader clutched her to his chest, as Tarkin gave the unthinkable order…

An explosion.

Leia woke up back in her cell.

She was cold, and for a brief moment she expected to open her eyes to a tent in a forest on Alderaan. The pain on the left side of her face convinced her that this fantasy was merely imagination. Gingerly, she pressed two fingertips to her swollen cheek, trying to remember how she ended up here. Her memory was fuzzy- something about Wilhuff Tarkin, and Vader, and…Alderaan.

She sat up.

He said they were going to attack Alderaan. What happened?

Looking up at the sterile walls of her cell, Leia realized she'd be left wondering for a while.


	2. Chapter 2

Ben Kenobi sat down abruptly on a bench molded to the side of the Millenium Falcon's lounge. Breathing heavily, he stared at the wall as Luke obliviously continued his lightsaber practice with the remote. A few seconds later, the boy noticed that his mentor was no longer offering a steady stream of coaching and looked over to him.

"What?" Luke said, suddenly concerned by Ben's blank expression.

"Something has happened," Ben responded distantly. "An…explosion. In the Force. Voices screaming and then suddenly silenced."

Luke frowned and then closed his eyes, wondering if his brief training would allow him to sense whatever had shaken Ben so badly. First he felt nothing other than the gentle, tentative tendrils of the Force flowing around his body; a sensation he'd only experienced for a few hours and that yet felt as familiar and necessary as his own heartbeat. Then he stepped back, his hand flying to his left cheek.

"What the…" His eyes told him that he had not just been backhanded across the face, not knocked to the floor in an unconscious heap. So why did his brain suggest otherwise?

"Master Luke!" shrieked Threepio, who had been observing the exercises at a safe distance from the swinging blade. Artoo bleeped, zipping over to Luke's side.

"Luke?" Ben stood. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah." Luke opened his mouth to explain but was interrupted as Captain Solo strode into the lounge.

"We're just about ready to drop out of hyperspace," he announced, clearly hoping for some admiring commentary about the quick timing. Ben merely nodded and followed Solo up to the bridge. Luke took a moment to fasten his father's lightsaber to his belt before joining them.

As they strapped in, Solo turned around to face Ben. "So where are we headed when we get to Alderaan?" he asked. "Given the departing reception we had at Mos Eisley, I want to be in and back out as quickly as humanly possible." At this, Chewbacca snorted. "With our additional fee, of course."

"Take us to Aldera spaceport. If you'll give me a moment in private, I should be able to arrange a special berth for your ship."

"Of course," responded Solo, "Whatever you need, old man."

He pulled the lever, dropping them out of hyperspace into what was normally a placid freight lane. Before his eyes had even had time to adjust to the relative darkness of real space, the Falcon's proximity alarm blared, warning of a quickly impending impact.

Luke's eyes bugged out, first at the impressive string of Corellian curses coming out of the captain's mouth and then at the sight out of the front viewport. Solo jerked the controls, skimming the edge of an enormous pleasure yacht that was wildly careening towards deep space. Not a klick away, two small freighters nearly collided as they zipped in opposite directions away from the planet. He realized the tiny dots of light that littered the sky in front of him were hundreds, no thousands of ships, each speeding desperately away from the surface of the Falcon's destination.


	3. Chapter 3

Captain Solo, his many friends would report, was not a man to throw up his hands and ask for advice in many situations. However, heading straight for a planet that was clearly under full evacuation was a first. Unfortunately Chewbacca looked just as perplexed as his captain.

"What's going on?" Luke piped up. Han ignored him. How the hell was he supposed to know?

Solo flipped his nav display to a local setting, showing all ship traffic within the system. "Chewie, see if you can find me somewhere we can float for a minute without getting stampeded so we can figure out what to do now," he said tersely, nearly t-boning a line of small yachts that had slaved together into a long train. He hissed as they jumped to hyperspace seconds later. "Idiots. They're going to kill someone pulling a stunt like that."

Chewie growled and gave out a line of coordinates to Solo, who nodded and flipped the ship around in a maneuver that brought a yelp of protest from the two droids in the back.

"Where are we going?" Ben asked calmly.

"Looks like there's a big empty spot right above the north pole," Solo explained. "I want to know why everyone is in such a hurry to leave before I put my ship down." Ben nodded and set a calming hand on Luke's knee before the boy could argue.

Flight traffic cleared out quickly as the Falcon headed towards the horizon. Solo slowed the ship, preparing a geosynchronous orbit as the last few ships disappeared in the opposite direction.

"Now," he said, "Let's figure out what the hell is going on, and quickly before I start to seriously regret this little journey."

Chewie pointed at the display and then looked out of the cockpit's forward viewscreen and howled.

"It looks like all the ships are trying to avoid that moon," Luke said, wanting to be helpful. Chewie barked again.

"That's no moon," Ben told him somberly. "It's a space station."

Solo was already turning the Falcon back towards the swarms of fleeing ships. "I think you're right. I guess now we know why everybody's taking a vacation." He punched a few buttons on the control panel. "Chewie, get us ready to jump to light speed. Just find somewhere decent on this trajectory."

"No!" Luke forgot momentarily that we was strapped in and tried to leap up. He bounced backwards as the straps secured him into the seat. "We have to get to Alderaan. The droids! And we paid you."

"Kid, I don't know what that thing is, but somehow I don't think whoever you're supposed to meet on Alderaan is going to be hanging around to wait for you."

"But what about the princess?" Luke pleaded as they raced away from the planet.

"What princess? What are you talking about?"

"Luke!" Ben said sharply. "Captain, I understand your concerns but we are not in any danger at the moment. We must reach Aldera..." he trailed off, assuming that Solo would be be calculating a price in his head.

"Money isn't worth anything if you're dead," Solo muttered, surprising the Jedi. "And how do you know how safe we are?"

"We are not in any danger at the moment," Ben repeated firmly. Luke looked over at him, wondering if the old Jedi was using the same technique on the captain that had gotten them past the checkpoint on Tatooine. If he was, it was nowhere near as effective. Solo showed no sign of deviating from his dash towards hyperspace and the Wookiee, who previously seemed to be the voice of reason and ethics for the pair, looked to share his partner's instinct towards self-preservation. "Please..."

Sighing, Luke looked back toward the rapidly diminishing space station through the side viewport. From this distance, it looked mostly harmless, but clearly the reaction of the planet's populace suggested the Alderaanians felt otherwise.

"Prepare to jump," Han told Chewie, distinctly avoiding any eye contact with his passengers. Chewie nodded, and Han reached out to pull the lever as Ben coughed into his sleeve. The engine gave a sick sounding whumping noise, and then...nothing.

"Are you...kriffing..," Han sputtered, too frustrated to even curse. "Chewie!"

Chewie shrugged, roaring at Solo as he denied responsibility for their mechanical trouble.

"What's the matter?" asked Ben.

"Hyperdrive is out, gods damn it." Han slammed his hand against the controls. "I don't know what happened. Hunk of junk!" Spinning the ship around again, he glared at Ben and Luke. "I guess you two will get your wish." Luke had the good sense to remain quiet, though he could have sworn that Ben winked at him as Solo turned around and steered them towards the capital city.

Solo walked back his offer to let Ben use the comm privately as they picked their way towards the Aldera spaceport, dodging an increasing wave of ships that seemed to be ignoring all rules of astronavigation and common sense. Deciding to prioritize efficiency over privacy, Ben punched in the old code he'd memorized nearly two decades earlier while Han and Chewie stayed at the controls, one eye on the space station looming far overhead.

In the era before space travel had become as commonplace and accessible as a hot breakfast, Alderaani society had, like so many other civilizations, gone through a period of vast scientific discovery that lead to a deep understanding of the myriad ways the universe might blithely wipe out an entire planet of living beings. Underground, magma reserves occasionally bubbled to the surface in cataclysmic blasts that destroyed cities and withered crops a continent away. Overhead, meteors had swung out of stable orbits to slam into the ocean raising massive clouds of dust and debris that had proven unsurviveable to the less evolved species that inhabited the planet millions of years previous. Not to mention disease, quakes, violent storms, and finally invasion by alien forces. The more philosophical thinkers assumed such hazards were inevitable and immersed themselves in religion or philanthropy. Eventually, more practical voices took over, leading to the creation of disaster management plans that included, under Bail Organa's watch, a four hundred million credit upgrade to the old Clone War era air raid siren system that allowed the government to transmit planet-wide messages along with the general alert.

His voice shaking, he'd quietly ordered Strina Parnuela, his director of emergency management, to ready activation of the alert system within moments of receiving the coded transmission from his backup consular ship, which had remained behind on Coruscant (he was a practical man, but he would never refer to the capital as Imperial Center) so that his daughter could use the faster and more heavily armed Tantive IV. Ever cautious of interception, the ship had merely forwarded the transmission from the Tantive..."all aboard were killed."

Strina was there, along with his secretary Mich who took a deferential step back as the transmission repeated. His wife Breha was out, meeting with local municipal leaders at a conference on the other side of Aldera. She hadn't known about Leia's mission.

"Prepare the emergency alert system for immediate activation," he said to Strina, "Need to know basis only. I don't want this getting out beyond the regional managers."

Strina nodded. "Any idea what we might be dealing with, your Highness?"

"I don't know," Bail told her. He leaned close so Mich wouldn't hear, "We may need to evacuate."

"The palace?"

"The planet." Strina was enough of a professional to keep from blanching. She knew that the Organa family had ties to the rebellion against the Empire, and assumed that the princess's death was somehow connected to the revolution. But she wasn't privy to the details, and now was not the time to ask. Bail's expression was calm but his voice wavered as he dismissed her and Mich.

"Your highness?" Strina turned as she was exiting his office. "Sir...I'm so sorry."

Bail kept his gaze straight ahead. "We've no time for our sorrows, Director. Report as soon as you've completed the preparations."

Mich pulled the door closed behind him, and Bail turned back towards the window, the robotic voice of the transmission still playing over his receiver. "Sent a distress signal. All aboard were killed." Fighting against panic, he thought through the possibilities. The ship might have malfunctioned, strayed into one of the gamma ray bursts that occasionally plagued double-sun systems. The Imperial Army might have tracked their stolen blueprints and blown the Tantive IV from the sky without asking questions. Or perhaps the whole thing was a lie? Was the Empire trying to trap him into reacting, to see what he might give away in a haze of grief? Or, he thought, shuddering, had Leia been taken prisoner?

"Stop," he said aloud to himself, willing away his desperate inclination to hop into the nearest ship and head for Tatooine to see what had become of his daughter. Taking a deep breath, he activated his comlink and called his wife's driver, asking that she be pulled from her meeting and brought home immediately. Before anything else, he needed Breha. Maybe she would know what to do...

Three endless days and sleepless nights later, Bail's spies had uncovered little. Tatooine had observed a firefight, but had no information about the wreckage of a ship. He and Breha stood in Bail's office while a few close advisors huddled together in a corner, scarfing down sandwiches delivered from the kitchen by somber faced staff. Word of the princess's disappearance and likely death had gotten out quickly, and, though they were disgusted with themselves, the Organas allowed the popular notion that they were paralyzed by the loss to cover their retreat from public life.

Bail had told Breha everything as soon as she had arrived home on that first horrible day. She took the news with uncharacteristic quiet. He knew she had never approved of their daughter's involvement in the Alliance, and believed that Bail's encouragement of Leia's interest in politics was an irresponsible risk considering the girl's heritage. He wanted her to scream, to beat on him with her fists. But instead she said nothing.

They had gathered a few trusted advisors who were aware of the extent of Bail and Leia's involvement with the rebels to determine what, if anything, they should do. Somberly Bail explained the purpose of the princess's mission. The group sat stonefaced as the Viceroy's reasoning behind preparing the global alert system became horrifyingly clear.

"We don't know if the main weapon is fully operational," Bail explained. "But I fear if it is..." He didn't need to finish the sentence.

"An evacuation would lead to a massive panic," Breha added, "And it could prove to the Empire that we are not just aware of the weapon, but involved. I don't think it's prudent unless we have more confirmation that we might be targeted."

"Your Highness, with all due respect," Strina spoke up, "By the time we had that confirmation, it might be too late."

Breha started to speak, but was interrupted by Mich bursting unannounced through the door.

"My apologies," he gasped. His face was ashen, telling the occupants of the room all that they needed to know.

Bail nodded to Strina, who ran to activate the alarm from the safe room in the palace. He grabbed Breha's hand and they rushed out to the balcony.

His first glimpse of the Death Star perplexed him. How could something so banal looking prove an existential threat to any planet? It was a grey sphere, dully reflecting the waning early evening sun. Looking down into Aldera's main street, he could see that foot traffic had stopped and everyone stood pondering the unexpected appearance of the enormous space station.

The blaring of the alarm began, Strina's voice echoing over the wails. "Remain calm. Attack imminent. Proceed to spaceports and evacuate immediately. All pilots must fill ships to capacity before departure." A burst of sirens, and then her recorded message repeated.

For a moment, there was no reaction on the streets. What did we expect, Bail thought sadly. One moment, people are cooking dinner and then suddenly we expect them to drop everything and flee the planet. He saw a green glow forming around a round indentation in the surface of the space station. Holding Breha tight, he closed his eyes and waited for the end.

"Your highnesses! Sir! Ma'am!"

Strina's voice brought Bail back to reality. He could hear the screaming from the street below and assumed that the weapon had fired. But then how?

"You have to evacuate," Strina shouted over the recording of her own voice that echoed off the high walls, "Before it fires!"

"But I thought..." Bail murmured. He looked back up at the Death Star, still hovering in the sky. The lasers were gone, and Bail thought he saw scorch marks blemishing surface of the weapon. "No."

"What?" said Strina, who was shouting orders into a comlink in one hand while she held the door open for the Organas to follow her to the launchpad on the south side of the palace. All protocol was gone. "What do you mean, no?"

"Take Breha," Bail said, "I'm staying until everyone is off the planet."

"Like hell I'll go without you." Breha shook away from his grasp. "Strina, get as many people into the ship is possible and get away. Now!"

Looking up into the sky, Strina could see the first ships starting to launch out of Aldera's spaceport. A week ago, she thought she'd be spending the week managing procurements of emergency shelter tents in preparation for the summer storm season on the southern continent. Now she was torn between an instinct to knock Bail and Breha's heads together and drag them to a ship, and an instinct to run for her life.

Softly, Breha said, "Strina, that's an order."

Once again holding hands, the Organas watched as the last ship in the palace hanger lifted gracefully away from the launchpad and joined the throngs tearing towards the outer atmosphere and hyperspace. Two hours had passed since they first spotted the Death Star, and the streets below were still horrifying full of people rushing towards the spaceport, most on foot though some seemed to have pitched entire households worth of furniture and clothes into landspeeders.

"What are they doing?" Breha said finally.

"I have no idea," Bail admitted. "I thought it was the end. I just..." He was interrupted by the beeping of a comlink.

"Organa," he said nervously, wondering what fate awaited him on the other end.

"Bail, thank the Force." Ben hadn't realized he was holding his breath. Solo frowned, recognizing the name of the planetary sovereign. Was that where the old man was getting his money?

"Who is this?"

"It's...Kenobi."


	4. Chapter 4

Tarkin pursed his lips as an aide quietly reported the death of a fourteenth soldier. Severe burns and concussive injuries had claimed ten of the Death Star's weapons operators instantly, and now four more had succumbed to their injuries within hours of the accident. He nodded tersely, dismissing the young man as he activated his comlink, dialing the chief engineer.

"Report?"

The man coughed before speaking. "We've managed to power down the weapons array, but we still can't isolate what caused the explosion. We're going to have to vent the sector before we can do a more thorough search though; there's still a lot of smoke."

"How soon can you have it back up?"

"I don't know. Until we can evaluate the extent of the damage and see if we need to replace parts, we're stuck."

"Has anything other than the main weapon unit been affected?" Tarkin held his breath. If they were stuck here, their failure on full display to the galaxy...

"No, sir. Hyperdrive and sublights are fully operational, as are the surface defense towers."

Tarkin cut the connection without dismissing the man, nearly crushing his comlink as he clenched his fist in frustration. He waved away the offer of tea from an aide who nervously sidled up, knowing that if he allowed himself even the smallest indulgence that the exhaustion he'd been fighting for the last few hours would flatten him. This was supposed to be his greatest triumph, and instead he was dreading the inevitable contact from Emperor Palpatine demanding to know how his superweapon had functioned. Tarkin had been confident, cocky even, when he'd requested permission to destroy Alderaan. He'd supervised construction of this project from the beginning, investing twenty years of his life for the greater glory of the Empire. The best engineers from around the galaxy had been coaxed or impressed into service. How could this have happened?

"Where is Vader?" he snapped to an officer who had escorted the admirals who remained on the space station into the formal conference room. The rest had taken their ships out of the system, presumably concerned more about retribution from the Emperor than the flimsy excuses they had passed to Tarkin via aides. Worthless cowards.

"I'll find out, sir," the officer responded before quickly exiting the conference room. Suddenly no one wanted to be anywhere near the Grand Moff.

Admiral Motti, who had been almost apoplectic in response to the main weapon's failure, spoke before Tarkin even turned to acknowledge him. "What are you going to do about this?"

Had Vader been the target of such a comment, Tarkin thought dryly, Motti would have been dead where he stood. Not for the first time, Tarkin found himself envying the Dark Lord's mystical powers. Instead of throttling the man, though, Tarkin merely said mildly, "We will set course for a remote system and perform repairs. Alderaan can hardly flee its system." He allowed himself the hint of a chuckle.

Motti scoffed. "No, but have you looked out a viewport recently, Governor? The population seems to be taking our threat more seriously than circumstances would warrant."

Tarkin had looked out and seen the masses of ships wildly fleeing the planet. Proof, he thought, of the princess's complicity in the plot to steal the station's design plans. Why else would the appearance of a space station, however large, lead to mass panic without even an attempt by the planet's leaders to contact them? Leia must have warned Alderaan's leaders of the weapon's capability before embarking on her secret mission, and now the Alderaanis were fleeing before they were blasted into atoms.

"No matter," said Tarkin. "Even if the entire population is gone, when we destroy this planet it will send a clear message to the rest of the galaxy that the power of Empire will not be challenged."

Motti snorted under his breath. "Why not just call in a fleet of star destroyers? At least then we might be taken seriously."

Tarkin ignored him, thinking. Continuing to try to track down the rebels was a non-starter at this point. They could return to the remote system where they had met with Vader's ship when he transferred his prisoner, but that would cost more travel time than Tarkin wanted to waste. The Kuat shipyards might have the necessary parts and expertise for repair, but the details of the incident would be difficult to contain at that point and embarrassing the Emperor further was a dangerous prospect. Then it struck him.

"Captain," he said, activating the communications link to the bridge, "Set course for the Endor system."

Vader had left his comlink in his quarters, knowing that Tarkin would hatch some alternative plan after the chaos of the explosion in the weapons array that would not involve him directly. The Dark Lord knew that Tarkin banked on the Emperor's patronage and support to keep himself safe from Vader's deadly rages, and Vader grudgingly honored his master's wishes by keeping as far away from the skeletal grand moff as possible. No point in needlessly tempting himself.

The princess, however, was another story. One moment, Vader was holding her by the shoulders, forcing her to face the imminent destruction of her home head-on. Then, as power began to flow to the lasers, he felt a surge of energy through the Force that nearly knocked him off his feet. As he stumbled back, he heard a massive crack and then screams from the weapons panel engineers in the bridge and over the comms to the main weapons level. Shaking, the princess tried to struggle away from Vader's grip. Snatching her arm, he whirled her around as the rest of the personnel on the bridge dashed to assist their colleagues who were fleeing the smoking wreckage of the control panel. Vader spared a glance across the room, noting that multiple crewmen lay motionless at their stations. Then he looked down into the girl's eyes.

Her expression, half fire, half ice, brought a flash of memory to Vader; his own face, reflected in the 'fresher mirror at the Lars' house, his mother's blood still sticky on his hands. Then, empathy became rage. He hated the Death Star, had made no secret of his disgust with the massive machine. But for this...child...to humiliate him, humiliate the Empire...His own frustration at her obstinance, even the face of the Death Star's threat, boiled over. The princess had started to speak, then fell to the ground as Vader dropped her with a backhanded slap. She moaned, and then lay still.

As the rest of the bridge crew was joined by firefighting droids and medics, Vader flung the girl over his shoulder and headed back to the detention level. He kept his mind clear as he dumped her onto the metal bunk and stalked out, double checking the lock. The Emperor, he knew, was already starting to doubt his abilities as an interrogator. If he knew the girl might have Force powers, not only would Palpatine's confidence in him be further eroded, but he might become personally involved. Vader wasn't sure why, but his inclination was to keep the princess far away from the Emperor, and he hadn't gotten this far in life by ignoring his instincts.

Now, hours later, Vader shook his head as he saw yet another engineering report flash onto the computer screen in the small control room where he'd secluded himself. The idiots were still searching for a mechanical cause of the electrical surge that fried both the main lasers and the weapons control panel while leaving every other system in the station untouched. They would be searching for a long time.

Pacing, Vader focused on quieting his presence in the Force as he pondered the events of the day. Admittedly, he had been perplexed by the girl's resiliency since her capture. Most of the rebels and other criminals subjected to the brutality of Imperial interrogation and torture broke relatively quickly, especially the ones who-like the princess-believed they could use their station to get out of their just deserts. On the other hand, the true believers in the cause could did often withstand the early sleep deprivation, threats, starvation, and beatings. But he'd never encountered a prisoner who resisted the combination of tongue-loosening and pain inducing drugs that he'd ultimately pumped into her. Even his own probes with the Force warranted no response, as though she'd constructed a physical wall to keep out all comers. He had finally allowed her to pass out, concerned that he might kill her before getting any useful information.

The scene on the bridge forced him to rethink his analogy. Perhaps her protective constructs weren't so much a wall to keep something out- maybe she was bottling something in, something so powerful that its release disintegrated miles of wires, sending shrapnel and flames bursting out towards the unsuspecting techs manning the controls and supervising the operation of the main weapon. But why wait until that moment to demonstrate her power? Something didn't add up.

He turned at the sound of a timid knock on the door. "Enter."

It was one of Tarkin's many aides that were scattered like vermin across the station, wheedling their way into overseeing even the fighter pilots, who should have been part of Vader's command. "What?"

"Milord," the man said, his head bowed. Clearly he wasn't close enough to Tarkin to fall under the Emperor's umbrella of protection, and was accordingly terrified, "Grand Moff Tarkin requests your presence in the main conference room." When Vader didn't respond, the man simply bowed his head and scurried away.

Rather than hustling to obey Tarkin like some common recruit, Vader returned to his quarters to see if he could ferret out what the man wanted before joining him. His comlink blinked to show multiple messages, but each was merely the sound of someone-presumably Tarkin-disconnecting once he realized Vader wasn't picking up. As he listened, it beeped again with an incoming contact.

"Yes?" he answered.

"If you're quite done sulking," Tarkin said icily on the other end, "Your presence is needed."

Cutting off the link and smashing the device against his desk, Vader stalked towards the elevator towards the command levels.

Identity verification being impossible under the circumstances, Bail simply gave Kenobi coordinates to the palace landing bay and then hurried down to watch the battered freighter glide into place. The boarding ramp was only part way down when an old man in long robes came bounding out with a dexterity that belied his apparent age, followed by two younger men, a Wookiee, and lastly two familiar droids.

It took Bail a moment to realize that the weathered, white haired man in front of him was the same person that handed him his baby daughter outside the room where her mother lay dying nearly two decades previous. "Obi Wan!"

"Leia sent me," Obi Wan said quickly, accepting the man's quick embrace.

"What?" Breha dashed over. "She's alive?"

"I...I don't know. She sent a message via the droids when her ship was under attack. I don't know what happened after that."

"I knew it," growled Bail. "Damn them all. They were attacked. Damn them!" Then he turned to Kenobi, his eyes pleading. "Isn't there any way you can tell if she's okay?"

"I'm sorry, Bail, I can't. You know why." The viceroy sunk to his knees, shivering in the warm evening air. Breha wrapped her arms around herself, keening softly.

Solo started to step forward, but a furry paw slammed down hard on his shoulder. Chewie shook his head, but Solo brushed him off and strode over to Kenobi and the Organas.

"Look, I'm sorry for everything you've got going on, but I've got my own problems and I was promised payment for getting you all here. Normally I could wait, but you seem to be dealing with some kinda little emergency.." Here he pointed up at the Death Star, "  
that I don't really want to get involved with."

At Solo's comment, they all looked back up towards the station that was menacing from high above beyond the planet's upper atmosphere. Frowning, Bail thought it looked slightly smaller. He noticed that the weapons array had turned as well, and was no longer visible.

"Perhaps the emergency isn't as dire as we thought, young man," said Bail coolly, standing up up and walking to a spot with a clearer view, "It looks like it's leaving."

"Bail!" Breha said sharply, breaking through her husband's brief sigh of relief, "What if Leia is on that thing?! She might be alive!"

"What do you..." he stopped halfway through his sentence. Breha might be right. Ignoring Solo's shout of protest, Bail dashed back into the palace towards his communications room. Frantically, he started dialing codes from memory, praying that someone with access to the secure channel was still in system. No response. No response.

"This is Thranta Oh-Six-Five-Nine-Five, receiving." Finally!

"Strina," Bail shouted, "What are you still doing here?"

"I pulled five hundred thousand klicks off planet," she said indignantly, "Did you really think I was going to abandon anyone?"

"Never mind," Bail told her. "Do you have any one man ships aboard your vessel?"

"Two," replied Strina after a moment, "What do you want me to do?"

"The Death Star looks like it's leaving the system. I want someone to put a tracker on it before it jumps to hyperspace."

Strina paused for a moment, presumably biting back an argument about the recklessness of such a plan. Bail was not usually one to take any endeavor lightly, so she could assume he had a good reason behind his orders. "Yes, your Highness."

"Strina," Bail stopped her before she cut the connection. "Thank you. May the Force be with us all."


	5. Chapter 5

Strina was buckling herself into the cockpit of the tiny ship before she'd even consciously realized that she probably should have asked around to see if there was someone more qualified. She knew how to pilot, of course, and was a decent pilot at that, but the packed cruiser probably had someone with far more training hours on the scouting ship that she had loaded with a transponder in preparation for tracking the giant space station that had upended their lives so suddenly. The viceroy hadn't given her any reason why he thought they should track it, though, and Strina hardly wanted to disrupt the evacuation with a long explanation of the events of the previous week with some low rank pilot. So here she was.

The ship's captain had agreed to continue to hold position while she ejected herself, surrounded by what felt like five kilos of tinfoil and scrap metal, into open space. In the distance, she could see that the heavy traffic of evacuees from the planet continued. Breathing deeply, she radioed back to her mother ship. "I'll be back." Then, to herself, "I hope."

Setting a direct course for the Death Star, Strina double checked the range of the firing mechanism that would allow her to attach the tracker to the outer hull. She knew from the readouts they'd been taking for the last two hours that the space station wasn't shielded. However, that hardly meant it wasn't defended. Her scout ship had some shields but no weaponry, meaning that she was going to have to figure out how to sneak up…or at least look innocent as she ventured into range.

Briefly, she merged into an impromptu travel lane that had been established by the streams of fleeing ships. Everyone was understandably staying far away from the Death Star, which Strina noticed had turned from its original bearing. The superweapon was no longer pointed directly at the planet, and it looked smaller. It's moving back, she muttered to herself. This was good, unless you were on a mission to catch up and shoot a tiny probe at the stupid thing. Cursing, she decided that she was left with few options other than to go for broke and head straight for it at top speed. Maybe they would think she was an idiotic teenager trying to make a last stand and let her shoot harmlessly and then break off for open space.

She banked hard to starboard, pulling away from the line of ships. A moment later, she glanced down at her radar screen and noticed three blips close behind her.

"What the…" Strina frantically smacked her display, trying to get identification on her pursuers. Could the Imperials have realized what she was doing and sent someone to shoot her down? No- the display showed that the ships behind her were a pleasure yacht registered to a prominent grocery store owner from Aldera, and two intrasystem freighters belonging to an agricultural producer. "Fools! What are you doing?!" Realizing they must have assumed she had discovered some short cut away from the chaos, she flipped her radio on to hail them. No answers. Well, they'd figure it out soon enough.

Rolling her eyes, Strina realized that the pleasure yacht was still behind her as she zipped closer to the Death Star. The other two were long gone, obviously having determined that, shortcuts notwithstanding, flying in close proximity to the monstrous machine wasn't worth it. At this point, she didn't dare try to open communications: they were far too close.

Drawing closer, Strina shifted her course slightly to align the belly of her ship with the Death Star's hull. Why hadn't they hailed, or attacked? she wondered briefly, checking her distance. Just a few more klicks and then she could fire her cargo and get the hell out of here.

She skimmed above the surface, following the perfect curvature of the station. A sliver of fuzzy blue light appeared ahead of her, and Strina watched in awe and horror as Alderaan rose over the horizon. From this distance, her home looked like a pale blue moon hanging tenuously in the darkness.

The blast of turbolasers came as a relief at first: Strina didn't have to wonder what the Imperials had in store as retaliation for her intrusion. Then, as she pondered her luck at having not yet been blown to an oblivion, she saw a tower rise up out of the Death Star's surface, turn, and let loose with a barrage of shots. But they weren't aiming at her.

She still wasn't close enough to be able to place her tracker with any certainty, and now the idiots who'd followed her all this was were picking a firefight with the Imperials! Cursing, she pulled her ship around, hoping the yacht would disengage and flee so that she could stick with her original plan.

No such luck. Impotently, the yacht tried to blast the tower, but its weak lasers, designed for clearing space debris out of a travelers path, simply bounced off the surface. Then the towers fired again, this time hitting their mark.

Strina could see the yacht disintegrate out of the corner of her eye. She did not see the piece of siding that came spinning towards her, still white hot from the energy of the lasers, slicing the tail section of her ship.

Were anyone to ever know the details of Strina's last seconds, they might gasp in amazement to hear that in spite of the quickly overwhelming apoxia, she was able to reach forward and depress a button that activated a tracking beacon that landed, along with the shell of Strina's ship, in one of the many trenches that crisscrossed the surface of the Death Star.

"Is there somewhere we can go?" Obi Wan had pulled Bail into a corner as he deactivated the comlink with Strina. He gestured towards the droids, and Artoo wheeled over. "We need to get this one somewhere that he can be…useful."

Bail took a deep breath, glancing at his wife. "Yes, of course," he said finally. "But I'm afraid all of our ships are gone."

"I'm sure Captain Solo could be persuaded…" Obi Wan started. Bail leaned in towards his old friend.

"Do you trust him? You know the stakes here, and not just for my daughter if she's still alive."

Thinking for a moment, Obi Wan nodded. "Yes. He acts…" Here Obi Wan paused, searching for a diplomatic word, "Self interested, but I do not believe he would ever betray us. This assumes, of course, that you have access to hard credits?"

Bail sighed and nodded.

Solo, Chewbacca, and the young blond man that Bail realized he had not yet formally met were having a quiet but heated discussion in the corner.

"I will double your fee again, hard credits, if you take us to our destination," Bail said bluntly.

Turning to face him, Solo cocked his head. "Let's call it triple and we're in business."

"I don't have an infinite supply of cash available, young man."

"Well, I don't have an infinitely supply of patience," Solo retorted, "And this trip has used a lot of it so far."

Gritting his teeth at the pilot's brashness, Bail thought for a moment. "Double now, and the rest in cash when we get there."

"That's what he promised me," Solo said, pointing a thumb at Obi Wan. "And frankly I'm still waiting."

"Yes, he mentioned that," said Breha, who had joined them. "Might I ask how you manage to command those sorts of prices for passengers on a freighter?"

"Hey, they were in a rush," Solo protested. The price was high, but the old man had agreed to it…

"Why would you need that kind of money?" Breha rubbed her chin. "Seems like a pilot traveling around with that kind of cash would be a prime target for pirates."

"I'm not worried."

"So you're planning on getting rid of it?"

"I didn't say that."

Breha raised her eyebrows. "It looks to me like you owe someone money. Wouldn't you be better off with enough cash to cover your debts completely? My husband is just asking you to take us on a simple, quick trip…It could keep you away from bounty hunters for a bit longer in any event"

Scowling, Solo turned to Chewie and whispered furiously.

"All right." Solo said finally. "You've got yourself a deal."

"Give us five minutes." Breha grabbed Bail by the hand and, uncharacteristically for the stately queen, ran at top speed towards their personal chambers.

"How did you…" Bail started, gasping as his wife dragged him through the door and started throwing clothes, jewelry, and holos into a bag.

"Oh, I thought the whole situation was quite obvious," said Breha with a wink, "And didn't I tell you that I speak Shyriiwook?


	6. Chapter 6

Tarkin stood expressionless as he watched the starlight stretch into the long lines that indicated the Death Star had successfully jumped to hyperspace. He had admitted it to no one, but after the weapons malfunction he was concerned about what else might not work as intended. Satisfied that they were on their way, he turned to Vader.

"You will be in charge of supervising the repair work." Vader didn't respond. "The chief engineer will have a full analysis of the damage and any necessary replacement parts. I want this work done quickly."

Fuming, Vader nodded. He was under no impression that Tarkin valued his technical skills. Rather, the Grand Moff simply wanted Vader to be the one who dealt with the inevitable duel of egos that would transpire when Tarkin showed up to scavenge bits and pieces of the analog space station under construction around the uncivilized Endor moon. He would surely find a way then to blame the weapons failure on Vader when reporting to the Emperor. Sparing one last quick glance at Tarkin, he stalked back towards the turbolift.

Rolling his eyes slightly at the Dark Lord, Tarkin turned to his lieutenant. "Did we get any final report on that ship that tried to attack us?"

"No, sir. Commander Siles believes it was just an impromptu assault by a local ship."

"All right." Siles had told Tarkin earlier that he believed there may have been two ships, with a smaller fighter hidden in the shadow of the larger yacht, but it hardly mattered. The commander was able to confirm that following their second turbolaser blast, there were no intact ships remaining. At least something was going right. "Tell engineering that they are under order to contact me immediately if they find any useful information. Otherwise I do not want to be disturbed for the next hour."

"Yes, sir. May I ask where I can find you if needed, sir?"

"I'm going to have a conversation with our guest."

Vader was surprised that the Emperor had not ordered them to make contact, but unlike Tarkin, who was relieved by the temporary respite, Vader was uneasy. Palpatine was not one to shrug at mistakes and let his servants handle the details. He would want to know why they had failed so spectacularly; at finding the stolen plans, finding the rebels, destroying the planet- very little had gone to plan. And each of those would lead the Emperor straight to the princess.

If Palpatine wanted to deal personally with her, there was very little that Vader could do to stop his master. Before it came to that, he was going to use this unexpected gift of time while they traveled to Endor to try to figure out what additional secrets the girl was keeping from him.

Not wanting a repeat of the ugly scene that had transpired right after Princess Leia was brought on board the Death Star, in which one of the girl's original interrogators had underestimated her vitality and a broken nose had resulted- his, not hers-Tarkin called ahead to the detention level and ordered that she be secured with binders before he entered her cell. The three guards at the control desk stood at attention as he strode purposefully out of the turbolift.

"Can I provide any assistance, sir?" the commanding officer asked briskly.

"No, thank you, officer." Tarkin allowed himself a thin smile as he unlocked a supply closet and selected a long, thin metal rod with a thick handle covered in knobs and buttons. "I'll handle this on my own. I have orders into engineering that I be notified if they find out any information about the weapons malfunction." Taking out his comlink, he handed it to the CO. "It will sound two short tones, a long tone, then three short tones if it is the chief engineer. You have my permission to answer if that is the case. Otherwise, I am not to be disturbed."

He turned and disappeared down the long hallway.

At this point, it was understandable that the princess would expect him to hurt her, Vader thought as h pondered his strategy for dealing with the girl. Perhaps if he shifted tactics, she might be thrown off course a bit. Might give him a clue to how she had managed to conceal—and then so effectively unleash—her Force powers. He might even get a hint of how strong she really was. Her demonstration on the Death Star suggested that would not be someone to trifle with, especially if she were trained…

There were so few of them left, he sighed, Jedi or Sith or otherwise. His master had carefully cultivated his sense of hatred for the Jedi, but Vader occasionally wondered how they would maintain the rule of two when Palpatine finally lost his clutches on the corporeal world with all the Force sensitive beings around the galaxy hunted down. Over his nearly two decade rule, the ravages of time and the Dark Side were evident on the old man. No longer the grandfatherly senator who was such a popular figure on Naboo, the demons that twisted inside Palpatine's soul were finally lose to wreak havoc on the tissues and organs that fought to contain his immense power. Someday he would die, and Vader would become ruler of the galaxy. But as daunting and mysterious a figure that Vader presented to the outside world, he'd never truly been a loner. Before Palpatine, he'd had Padme, and Obi Wan (curse him to seven hells!) and his mother….perhaps Leia was a natural candidate for his apprentice and minion as he overthrew Palpatine and took his rightful place ruling the galaxy.

"Milord!" The detention block guards jumped to attention as Vader appeared. He hadn't commed down to let them know he was coming, knowing that Tarkin's command staff on the ship was trying to quietly track his whereabouts. "Can I…can I assist you, milord?"

"No." Vader stepped around the control desk, grunting in surprise as the commanding officer slid out from the interior of the semi-circular console to block his path.

"Forgive me, milord. I'm under orders to prevent all disturbances."

"I am not a disturbance, and if you value your continued good health you will move." Vader said simply. Then, as an afterthought, "Who gave this order?"

"Grand Moff Tarkin, milord." The officer gulped and sidled partially out of Vader's path, enough that the Dark Lord opted not to strangle him right then.

"I see," said Vader, glancing down at the rows of doors. "You may inform Tarkin that I instructed you to deviate from those orders, and that he may blame me for any….disturbances. Am I understood?" Without waiting for a response, he stalked down the corridor.

Tarkin couldn't possibly know of the girl's involvement in destroying the Death Star's main weapon, but Vader still quickened his step slightly as he approached her cell. More likely he was just taking out frustrations on a helpless prisoner, but he couldn't help but be concerned that Tarkin might be taking his threat of execution into his own hands. Reaching the cell door, he could hear but not discern Tarkin's voice, followed by the sound of an electric current popping and sparking and the girl's strangled scream.


	7. Chapter 7

Breha reminded her husband repeatedly to grab the receiver that was their only solid connection to the Death Star's destination as they dashed onboard the ship, dragging heavy bags of belongings behind them. Solo had gone to warm up the ship as they dashed around their living quarters, trying to determine what they might need for an uncertain road ahead. Ever more practical minded than Bail, Breha snatched up portable computers and irreplaceable family holos while Bail gathered clothes and toiletries. "Don't bring anything we can get somewhere else," she hissed finally as she searched frantically for an old fashioned paper book that hid a defunct decoder used by Jedi who had passed briefly through Alderaan at the height of the purges. She emerged from under their bed with the book in hand, her hair mussed and streaming down her back. Reaching up, she knotted it into a quick bun before pulling out the decoder and smashing it beneath her shoe.

"We have to go," said Bail. "Is there anything else…."

"That we don't want the Empire to find if they come?" Breha responded with a mirthless laugh. "I don't know, Bail. You seem to be the one handling all the subversion around here."

"Breha…" he started, knowing this wasn't the time for a fight, "Breha, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Leia thought…I thought…you'd worry."

"She thought I wouldn't let her go! All this nonsense with the Senate, living on Coruscant, I stood behind her. I was terrified, Bail, but I stood behind her because I knew how much it meant to her. But you know she should never have gotten involved with the Rebellion! Damn it!" She had reached her breaking point finally, and collapsed into Bail's arms, fighting off sobs. "We were just supposed to keep her safe. And now she's either dead or….oh gods, I can't even…"

"Breha." Bail spoke sharply. "We cannot do this right now. What's done is done, and Leia needs us to finish what she started." Silently, Breha pulled away nodding, but the cold look lingered in her eyes. "Go downstairs and pull all the hard credits we have out of the safe." She straightened her shoulders and dashed out of the room.

Bail took one last look around the living quarters he had shared with his wife for nearly three decades. He knew this could be the last time he saw his home: at best, Alderaan was sure to be occupied by an Imperial garrison. Worst, the Death Star might return at any moment to finish what it had begun. The apartment had a balcony that swept out over a steep valley that filled with wildflowers every spring. It was here that he had first placed his new baby daughter into his wife's arms, feeling that they had truly become a family after so many years of loss and heartache. He had known when he stepped forward to offer his home to one of Padme's children that life would never be as simple as it would have been if any of the children—girls, all of them-who lived and died so quickly in Breha's womb had become their heir. But, as Yoda had assured him many times, the Force was mysterious, flowing like a river that carried every living being unceasingly forward towards its destiny. With a soft sigh, he walked back through the open door and headed downstairs to blast off for Yavin IV.

"Now," said Solo as they were loading up, "One little thing I forgot to mention. My hyperdrive is on the fritz."

"What?!" Breha exploded, "You forgot to mention? You forgot?"

"Calm down," he said, holding up his hands, "Chewie's been lookin' at it. He thinks he isolated the problem and fixed it, but I'm just warning you. We tried to get out of here once and it didn't work."

"I'm sure it will work. Chewbacca is a fine mechanic," said Obi Wan. Solo gave him a long look and then shrugged.

"I'm just warning you all, it's on the fritz."

Solo had to open some of his smuggling containers to fit the mounds of luggage the Organas dragged on board. Royals, he thought, shaking his head, how the kriff did I get myself into this? Bail offered to assist with the packing more than once, but Solo wanted his passengers as far away from his once-secret holds as possible.

Their lift off was smooth. Bail and Breha joined Solo and Chewbacca in the cockpit to help with in-system navigation as Luke and Obi Wan secured the droids in the rear lounge. Once they were clear of the system and had confirmed multiple times that the Death Star was gone, Bail insisted on inputting the coordinates for their destination into the navicomputer himself. It wasn't for secrecy- he knew even the simplest of navigational devices would store the information. It was simply that he didn't trust anyone but himself to get it right; especially not Captain Solo.

The Falcon shimmied and shuddered as usual before jerking into hyperspace without a hitch. Obi Wan smiled, and said simply, "Well done, Chewbacca." They were on their way.

The Millennium Falcon had hosted its fair share of odd parties and motley crews, but Solo decided that this was by far the weirdest combination of passengers yet. The kid, the old guy who thought he was a Jedi, and now the two rulers of Alderaan, all gathered around the lounge table chatting quietly.

"So you told her to find me," Obi Wan was saying to Bail as Solo and Chewbacca joined them in the back. "I'm so sorry I couldn't help her in time."

"It's my fault," Luke piped up. The boy had been uncharacteristically shy since they had reached Alderaan, spending his time marveling at his elegant surroundings. "I should have gotten you as soon as I found the recording."

Bail and Breha turned to the boy and smiled sympathetically. "Please don't say that," said Bail, "And I'm sorry…we haven't been properly introduced." He held out his hand. "Bail Organa, and my wife Breha."

Luke returned the handshake with the firm grip Uncle Owen had taught him. "Luke Skywalker."

Bail's hand dropped to the dejarik table like a stone. "What?" he stammered. "Obi Wan?"

Luke's mind was in only one place, and he completely misinterpreted Bail's shock. "Did you know my father?"

"Obi Wan?" Bail's voice was shaking.

The Jedi folded his hands across his lap. "Luke recently learned of his Jedi heritage," he said firmly, "He now knows his father was a famous warrior before his murder. He's been interested in learning more about his past and I have been instructing him in the Jedi arts."

"But…" Clearly that was not the information that interested the Organas, though Luke swelled with pride to hear Obi Wan speak of his father. "Is he…"

"Yes." Luke again assumed that Obi Wan was referring to his ancestry as a descendant of the mighty Anakin Skywalker, though he was confused as Breha stood and embraced him tightly. Bail sat shaking his head, muttering something about the Force.

"Look, is anyone hungry? I mean before this all starts to get all spiritual and whatnot again?" Solo interrupted. "I'm going to cook up some nerf steaks if you all are interested."

At the mention of food, Luke perked up though the rest waved Solo away. The boy went to go assist in the small galley while Obi Wan leaned in close to the Organas.

"What are you doing?" Bail whispered sharply, looking up to ensure no one was eavesdropping. Luke was busy getting in the way as Solo and Chewie pulled steaks out of blister packs and heated the cooktop. "What did you tell him?"

"His life story, and his destiny, is not something that will be revealed in a day," Obi Wan responded quietly. "They are both safer if…"

"Both safer? We don't even know if Leia is alive, and I can assure you that if she is, she is not safe!" Breha interjected. "I don't know what you're doing, but if that boy knowing anything about Leia will make a difference in us finding out what happened to her, I warn you not to stand in my way." Tears appeared in her eyes, and she blinked rapidly. "I warn you."

A crash from the kitchen drew their attention back across the lounge. Luke had stumbled forward, slamming into a stack of dishware before falling to the floor, clutching his chest. "Kid!" Solo shouted, dropping the nerf steaks back onto the cutting board and kneeling next to his prone companion. "Kid, are you okay? Burn yourself?"

"Master Luke!" Threepio cried from his spot in the back. Artoo whistled, shoving past Chewbacca to get to Luke.

"I must have touched something I shouldn't have," said Luke shakily, standing up and trying to clean up some of the mess. Chewie growled and pushed him back towards the bench seat, taking the dishes from him. "It felt like an electric shock."

"There's nothing there that should have shocked you, Kid," Solo told him, gingerly testing the surface of the prep area to ensure that it hadn't somehow become electrified. "But hey, I'm sorry. With this old girl you never know." Chuckling lightly, he turned back to cooking.

"Maybe it was static," Luke said as he flexed his fingers in front of him. "But it sure was a lot of static."

"Perhaps you should rest," Obi Wan said, standing. "Your sensory perception seems to be getting outside of your control, and we have a long journey ahead of us. Relax and try to let the Force flow through you."

"I thought that was what I was doing," muttered Luke as he reluctantly allowed Obi Wan to guide him back towards the bunk area. "And I'm not going to sleep until I get something to eat."

"I'll call you when it's ready," Solo called after him, shaking his head at the Old Man's mother hen act. Still, this was the second weird episode the Kid had in the last couple days. Maybe there was something wrong with him. Hopefully it wasn't contagious.

Vader first tried the door controls outside the princess' cell, but found they had been password locked. Hearing an eerie silence, he opted for brute force. The door slammed up with a bang that reverberated down the cell block.

Tarkin was standing inside looking clinically at his prisoner. In his hand, he clutched a deactivated neuro-prod. Leia sat in front of him, her body hanging forward from where the magnetic binders clamped her wrists to the wall. Her eyes blinked rapidly, and hands and feet jittered, but a quick probe with the Force told him the girl was unconscious. On her neck, he could see a long burn that jagged its way from her right ear down to where it disappeared front of her dress. The top portion of her dress had been ripped away across her clavicle, revealing deep bruises.

"What did you do?" Vader said slowly, dispensing with any pretense of respect or submissiveness.

"More than you proved capable of," Tarkin responded coolly. "How long did you have her for, and you couldn't get the least bit of information from her."

"And what did you learn?" Vader challenged.

"Plenty. For one, I believe her rebel friends were behind the sabotage to this station. I am going to order a complete investigation of anyone with access to the main weapons console. We will root out these traitors soon enough."

"What makes you believe that?" Vader was curious what the girl had said, but kept his tone relatively menacing.

"It was quite interesting, really. She said at one point that she kept me from destroying Alderaan." Here he stopped to laugh derisively, looking down at the battered princess, "and that she would do it again."

"Hm." Well, if the idea that there were rebel saboteurs on board the Death Star kept Tarkin busy for a while, that was not a bad thing. "What will you do now?"

"She'll be kept alive until we have identified her compatriots," Tarkin told him, turning to leave. "Now, since I've done your job for you, you'll understand if I leave you to…clean this up." He stepped out and depressed the button that ought to have closed the door. Noticing Vader's handiwork, he raised his eyebrows. "I'm sure you'll have this repaired as well."

As he stepped back into the turbolift, returning the salutes of the officers guarding the detention block, Tarkin let out a brief sigh of relief that the princess hadn't yet died at his hands. For all his blustering, he always left the direct contact with prisoners to the experts in the field. The neuro-prod he selected looked terrifying enough, but the operation of the device was more complicated than he realized. He threatened once to shove it into the girl's mouth when she taunted him about the Death Star's failure, and was glad that he hadn't followed through on that threat. Without control over the voltage that shot out of the prods multiple nodes, that would have certainly killed her on contact. Instead, he'd ripped away part of her dress and then recoiled as she spit and swore at him. Infuriated, he pressed the probe against her neck and chest and pressed a button that he thought would automatically determine an appropriate level of voltage based on his victim's physical characteristics. But he'd failed to recalibrate the device, and it retained its previous setting from when it had been used to torment a thick furred Bothan. But she was alive, and that was the important part. Her specific state of being was hardly his concern.

As soon as Tarkin stepped out the door, Vader deactivated the magnetic locks that held the binders to the wall. Leia fell forward onto the floor. For a moment, he marveled again at the girl's resiliency against such treatment. What Tarkin thought was a confession was actually a threat, he thought with a slight smile. She was just the type of person who would make an appropriate apprentice for a powerful Sith Lord.

But first, he had to make sure that she survived. Not wanting to hurt her further, he summoned medics who somberly lifted her onto a stretcher and then floated her down the hall towards the turbolift, stopping briefly so the guards could bind her arms to the bed. Vader lifted a finger, and with an imperceptible click, the binders unlocked. He wasn't worried that she was going to go anywhere soon.

Vader followed the medical team up to the infirmary. He had picked up the neuro-prod where Tarkin had left it, and handed it over to a droid so the medics could determine how much voltage the girl had been subjected to. He stood back as they ran probes over her body and then just her head, assessing physical damage.

"She'll survive with treatment," the head medic finally said to Vader. "With your permission, milord, I'll give her fluids and oxygen to stave off progression of circulatory shock ." Vader nodded his assent. "She also has second and third degree burns to her neck and chest that should be treated and bandaged to avoid infection."

"Proceed. Our objective is to keep her alive and you have my permission to take any steps necessary to ensure that we meet our goal. Her life is your responsibility, Doctor."

Gulping, the medic turned back to his patient. Why these people would beat and torture people to within an inch of their lives and then expect him to patch them back up was a mystery, but he was a loyal servant of the Emperor. That meant he didn't ask questions.

As the Falcon dropped from hyperspace, Luke gasped at the sight before him. As a child, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru had taken him to see a traveling exhibit that stayed in Mos Espa for an extra two weeks because of the hordes of interested spectators. It was simply a glass, climate controlled structure the size of a large barn, but the interior was full of unimaginable varieties of ferns and flowers and vines that crept up the walls, hanging out leaves the size of Jawas that swung gently from the ceiling. The exhibitor had hoped to sell Tatooinians on his prefab greenhouses, but while there wasn't much of a market for agriculture, the enterprising businessman found he could make the visit worth his while by charging the curious natives for a tour of his demonstration greenhouse. They lined up for blocks to breathe in the moist air.

Luke remembered with a sad smile how his uncle had gruffly acquiesced to his demands for a special trip to Mos Espa. Owen complained about the expense and wasted time the entire ride over, but became mute when they finally reached the front of the line and entered the magical little building. Turning to point out an enormous spiky bromeliad with red and gold flowers, Luke saw his uncle grinning like a small child on his birthday. Beru put her hand on his shoulder and smiled, silently warning him about the consequences of crowing "I told you so!"

The planet…no, moon, he remembered, that floated in front of him must have been part of the inspiration for that green wonderland. Even from orbit, Luke could see the lush forests and swamps that covered Yavin IV, breathing life into the surrounding atmosphere.

"Sure is something, Kid, isn't it?" Solo said as he glided towards the coordinates Bail had given him. He had mostly gotten over the bruised ego he'd suffered when Breha had embarrassed him about the debts he owed. He still wasn't sure how she managed to call things so close to the mark, but he had theories: either she was extraordinarily perceptive, which was possible, or more likely she overheard Chewie yelling at him and was one of those special humans who understood Shyriwook. Probably the latter, he figured. Just his luck.

Bail joined them in the cockpit as they received a hail from the base that was concealed deep in ancient ruins hidden in the jungle. He gave a code, and they were quickly ushered into an enormous landing bay cut into a huge rock pyramid rising hundreds of feet from the jungle floor. Fighters lined the edges of the bay, hooked to fuel lines or ripped open for repairs.

Men and women, some in uniform, scurried across the structure hauling boxes or carrying small computer tablets. Solo cut the engines, hoping his visit here would be shorter and more lucrative than their stop on Alderaan.

He strolled down the gangplank, watching with interest as Bail and Breha greeted an older man with a warm embrace. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but Bail shook his head and then clapped him on the back, gesturing towards the two droids. Artoo rolled forward, and was immediately escorted away by an excited looking young technician. Obi Wan stood back with Luke, watching Solo with a close eye.

Suddenly, Luke spotted someone on the far side of the hangar and went dashing over with a shout. Obi Wan walked over to Solo and Chewbacca.

"I'll be sure you receive your full promised payment as soon as possible." Obi Wan cocked his head at the two pilots. Then, after a moment, he added, "Quite an impressive operation they have here."

Solo laughed. "Yeah. Too bad they don't stand a chance."

"You don't think so?"

"You've seen what the Empire can do," Solo scoffed. "All the snub fighters in the Universe aren't going to get you very far against that."

Gathering around a computer monitor, Bail and Breha joined Commander Willard and General Dodonna for the informal briefing from the young technician responsible for downloading information from Artoo.

"Thankfully it looks like the file is completely intact," he told them, "It has full technical readouts for the Death Star. It's going to be a lot of information to sift through."

"Find everyone on base with any engineering expertise," Dodonna said to Willard, "Twelve hour shifts. We're going to crack this."

Bail handed Dodonna the small receiver they had carried from Alderaan. "We were able to get a tracker placed," he said, "Hopefully we can find the Death Star before it's operational again."

"We're on it," said Willard, gripping Bail's arm affectionately. "We're going to beat those bastards."


	8. Chapter 8

Initially, Tarkin had been surprised to learn that the Emperor had ordered a start to work on the second Death Star before the first could be completed and properly tested. After a few years of setbacks on the original battle station, the dual track engineering began to make sense. It wouldn't do to be stuck waiting years for the construction of additional machines if the first proved successful. Clearly some change would need to be made to the design of the primary weapon, which was identical between the two, but for now the situation was optimal for cannibalizing parts that would be necessary for repairs.

The Death Star dropped out of hyperspace just outside the Endor system so they could announce their presence and coordinate orbits to avoid a catastrophic collision. The newer Death Star was locked in a geosynchronous orbit above a shield generator while it awaited completion of an outer hull, so Tarkin brought his station into a spot directly opposite to its counterpart, matching speeds with the rotation of the moon.

Vader had assembled a squad of stormtroopers, accompanied by droids designed for heavy lifting, and seven engineering staff. They were in the process of boarding two shuttles and a heavy freighter when one of the ubiquitous, interchangeable lieutenants scurried in.

"Milord!" he called, stopping Vader as he was striding up the ramp into his shuttle, "Grand Moff Tarkin wishes for you to join him in his personal communications suite. The Emperor has bidden you to make contact."

Turning abruptly, Vader came back down into the large hangar. "Continue preparations for launch," he told the stormtrooper commander. "I will return momentarily."

The link with Palpatine had already been established by the time Vader joined Tarkin, no doubt to make the Dark Lord look tardy and irresponsible.

"Lord Vader!" Tarkin greeted him with uncharacteristic pleasantness. "Thank you for joining us. I was telling His Highness of your work on repairing the damaged weapons components."

And no doubt blaming me for your failures, Vader thought as he joined Tarkin in the holofeed, kneeling. He bowed towards the Emperor. "What is thy bidding, my master?"

"Tarkin, leave us," the Emperor said sharply. Looking glad to be dismissed, however briefly, Tarkin stood, bowed again, and practically dashed from the room. Once he was gone, Palpatine walked closer to the camera on his end of the feed so that he appeared to be looming over Vader. "I felt a disturbance in the Force."

"Yes, my master." Vader struggled with what to tell him. Were he to admit that he knew that the source of the disturbance was the young princess' outburst as she destroyed the weapon to save her planet, his plans for her eventual apprenticeship—not to mention Vader's own physical safety—would be greatly at risk. But if he obfuscated the details, the old Sith might sense his deception. He decided he would take advantage of the distance between himself and the Imperial Palace. "I have been seeking out the source. It happened just as the weapons malfunctioned."

Palpatine eyed him suspiciously. Then he stepped back. "Continue your work, my apprentice," he said, "You have five days time. I want the weapon fully operational and the rebel base found by then. If not, warn your men that I will come to supervise their efforts."

It was a young slicer whose only previous experience in starship engineering came from video games that provided the engineering team with the break they needed to solve the riddle of how to destroy the Death Star on the second day of their exhausting search. General Dodonna raised an eyebrow at the boy as he led the team into the makeshift conference room to present their findings. They had an informal lower age limit for participation in the Alliance and he wasn't convinced this kid was anywhere near it yet.

Yawning techs, some still in night clothes, and a few pilots gulped coffee as they gathered around the display. The successful engineering team-comprised of the young slicer, two brothers from Corellia, and an older Mirialan woman who had been a professor at her planet's technical university—stood before the crowd, beaming with nervous excitement.

"Dr. Ogali, would you tell us what you've found?" Dodonna asked, holding up his hands for quiet. The Mirialan, who had been elected by her team to do the actual presenting by virtue of being the only one without a paralyzing fear of public speaking, cleared her throat.

"The superstructure and outer hull are designed to act as physical shielding for the station because power generation for an energy shield would sap enough resources as to render any activation of the primary weaponry impossible," she started. "Normally this design would work as intended, since the power core is at the immediate center of the station. However, clearly concessions to physical laws had to be made, and they included exhaust ports here;" she pointed at the holographic illustration that had appeared in the center of the room, "here, and here, to bleed heat from the core and keep it from overwhelming the interior structure. I won't get into the nuclear physics right now, but simply if we are able to introduce a high energy blast into the core via the thermal exhaust ports, we've calculated that their margin for error is small enough that it would create a chain reaction that could destroy the entire station."

A few people around the room sat furiously scribbling notes, some of them arguing quietly with their neighbors as they sketched out figures and equations. Dodonna let them take in the findings for moment.

"Dr. Ogali and the rest of the team," he paused as everyone present let out a brief cheer and smattering of applause, " have identified a few remaining gaps in their theory. First and foremost, what are your thoughts on the appropriate weaponry to use that can penetrate such a small target and explode with enough energy to trigger the reaction? Don't forget, the exhaust ports themselves are ray shielded."

More quiet scribbling. Then, a young woman with a flight jacket pulled haphazardly over her Alliance-issued pajamas spoke up. "It's just back of the envelope, sir, but I think a proton torpedo should work and would get past the ray shielding without a problem."

"Yeah, but who's gonna make that shot?" A group of pilots in the back of the room laughed. "You science types sure seem think a lot of us." More laughter. "Theory ain't reality, you know.."

Dodonna clapped his hands for quiet. "This is what we have for now. The Alliance never would have formed if we waited for a perfect opportunity, and we are going to do like we always do and make the best of what we have available to us. Now, Antilles, Darklighter, you stay here. Dr. Ogali, your team as well. We're gathering in thirty minutes for a planning meeting and I want you all to be there. Formad, you grab three mechanics and get me an assessment of every snub fighter we have in working order before that meeting starts. The rest of you are dismissed for now."

General Dodonna had insisted that the Organas use his private quarters while at the Yavin base. They finally retreated, more to find a respite from the constant attention of the command staff and the Alderaanis on base than to get any actual rest. Breha lay stiffly on the bed, staring at the ceiling. From across the small room, Bail could hear her ragged breathing as she fought to keep from crying.

They both started at the sound of a knock on the door. Bail stood, leaning his head back to work some of the tension out of his neck.

It was Dodonna.

"I think we may have found a possible weakness in the Death Star," he told them. Breha sat up, curious. "I thought you might want to be there for the strategy meeting."

"You think you can destroy it?" Bail said, astonished.

"I hope so, yes. It's going to take a long shot, but with luck on our side…I've asked General Kenobi to join us as well. I still can't believe you've found him."

"More that he found us," Bail corrected. "We have Kenobi to thank for ensuring that those technical readouts made it here."

Dodonna squatted next to the bed, where Breha now sat straightening her dress and hair. "We also owe an unimaginable debt of gratitude to your daughter." He took her hand. "Her sacrifice could be the turning point in the battle against the Empire and we will never forget that."

"Thank you," Breha whispered.

The battle was planned, the pilots recruited, the ships prepared. Obi Wan was offered a ship and politely declined, citing his lifelong distaste for space battles. Outside the control room, Captain Solo tapped his foot. He had his down payment, but every time he tried to reach either the Organas or Dodonna they somehow seemed to be busy on the other side of the base. He looked over his shoulder to see if Chewbacca was anywhere nearby, but the Wookiee had made the mistake of volunteering to assist with loading torpedoes onto the X and Y wings that the rebels planned to use against the massive battle station. A waste of time, thought Solo, still absolutely convinced that the snub fighters would have no effect on the giant weapon.

Luke clearly bought into the rebel's optimism. After running into an old friend from Tatooine, Solo had hardly seen him since they'd arrived. He had enthusiastically volunteered to fly a fighter on the mission in spite of his inexperience, though Solo had to admit that the Kid's scores were impressive. Luke didn't know that Solo had trained on fighters during his time in the Imperial Navy, but he still puffed up with pride when Solo casually complimented his techniques.

Belief in the Force or not, Solo's own danger sense went wild when the conference room finally emptied and Dodonna approached him with a smile.

"So have found my credits?" Solo asked before Dodonna could make any more requests. No such luck.

"To start, I want to again express my appreciation for your contributions to our efforts," Dodonna started.

"I haven't made any contributions," Han protested. "I'm just a paid contractor."

"We've done an assessment of our capabilities, and we need some additional ships with robust communications systems to help coordinate the battle on site. Your ship is a perfect candidate."

"No. Just no. Battle?!" Han held up his hands and stepped back. "The Falcon is not going to be part of any battle!"

"You wouldn't be in the line of fire," Dodonna assured him. "We would just need you to hang back and stay in comm range."

"And let me guess…you'll double my fee?"

"Well…"

"Well, what?"

"Your partner indicated…"

Solo raised his eyebrows and looked around for the Wookiee, who was still nowhere to be seen. Probably on purpose.

"Look, General. My partner is not the captain of the Falcon. I am. And I want my money and I want to leave. Your secrets are all safe with me, don't worry, but no offense- I want nothing more to do with you. I've gotten in way over my head as it is."

Dodonna sighed. "There's nothing I can say to change your mind?"

Solo started to shake his head, but was interrupted by a roar. Chewie.

"Will you excuse us for a moment, General?" Solo grabbed Chewie by the arm and tried to pull him towards a corner, but the Wookiee roared again, waving his arms. "Whoa, slow down there!"

Bail and Breha came out of the conference room with Obi Wan in tow, and Solo noticed the queen smirking at him. So she could understand Chewbacca…

Thankfully, no one else in the immediate vicinity knew exactly how viciously Chewie was ripping Solo a new one. He started with a long exposé of the various deficiencies and lack of permanent relationships in Solo's ancestry. He moved onto a detailed explanation of exactly what would happen to Solo if he was caught by Imperial forces while carrying out his current profession. Finally, and most effectively, Chewbacca explained in excruciating detail exactly what he would do to his partner if Solo didn't agree to help the Rebels. A working knowledge of Shyriiwook was hardly necessary to comprehend the threats Chewie was making. As the rest of the pilots and techs filed out of the conference room, a small circle formed around the pilot and the Wookiee, mouths gaping.

"Fine!" Solo growled finally. "But I want my money in advance."

"Of course," Dodonna responded mildly, nodding at Chewbacca. The Wookiee grinned, baring his teeth and smacked Solo on the back.

"So when do we get going?" Solo asked. "Would be nice if I could finish up a couple repairs before Chewie gets us killed."

"As soon as we find out where the Death Star is," Dodonna said. "Until then, everyone get some rest."


	9. Chapter 9

Luke hoped to be able to join his friend Biggs Darklighter and the other pilots in the mess hall, but Obi Wan stopped him as he trotted off to join his new friends. He tamped down a flash of annoyance. Uncle Owen used to do the same thing, and Luke desperately wished his uncle was still alive to boss him around. Obi Wan had approved of his desire to fly, but was under the impression that further instruction in Jedi skills would serve him better than extra hours on the simulator. During the long trip, Bail had told Luke a few stories of the old Jedi's heroics during the Clone Wars, and Luke was willing to admit that his trainer had a working understanding the requirements of space warfare.

Now Luke sat cross-legged in the center of one of the dormitory rooms that had been carved out of the ancient temple. Silent, he clenched and unclenched his jaw as he fought to focus his thoughts away from Tatooine, from mysterious holograms of princesses and narrow escapes from Imperial troops. Obi Wan, sitting next to him, had far more practice in meditation after his many years of solitude. However, he too found himself struggling with the most basic meditation, his mind wandering to so many what-ifs.

There was so little time to give the boy the foundation he needed to start his journey towards Jedi knighthood. It had been Yoda who insisted on separating and hiding the young twins at birth, and at the time, Obi Wan agreed with him. Allowing one or both to fall to the Dark Side would doom the future of the galaxy. But while they presented the greatest threat, the children were also the last hope for bringing back the light of freedom and justice that had been destroyed by Palpatine and his mindless followers. To succeed, they would need the guidance and strength of the Force. The loss of Leia made Luke's training all the more urgent. And yet Obi Wan could not shake the undercurrent of fear and regret that tainted his every action, taunting him with memories of his past failure.

"We all have darkness in us," Obi Wan said suddenly. Luke opened his eyes and looked up at his teacher. "Our obligation as Jedi is not to banish the Dark Side, but to overwhelm it with the Light so that we may acknowledge, but not obey, our instincts towards hate and fear."

"But, Master Kenobi," Luke started, "what does that have to do with actually using the Force? When you got us past those stormtroopers, or, um, whatever happened with Han's hyperdrive- was that the Light Side? How did you do that?"

Obi Wan chuckled. "I'd be lying if I told you that those abilities didn't make a Jedi's work easier. But you must be cautious. The skills will come with practice, but your intentions are far more important than your actions. Let's work together on meditation against. Once you strengthen your connection to the Force, the rest will come."

That afternoon, Obi Wan joined Bail at his vigil near the receiver they'd brought from Alderaan, waiting for the moment that it would activate and reveal the location of their target. Leaning back, the old Jedi Master sighed.

"Long day?"

"I'm out of practice. I haven't done any teaching, since, well…and it's not coming back as I hoped it would."

Bail smiled sadly. "It has been a long time. And these aren't exactly ideal circumstances for instruction."

"Imagine trying to learn to walk, or breathe, as an adult," Obi Wan explained. "He keeps asking me, how do I do this, how do I do that? Could you teach an adult how to walk?" He dropped his head into his hands. "We shouldn't have waited so long…"

Bail looked away, unable to speak.

A Jedi should know what to say to a bereaved parent, Obi Wan thought, kicking himself for choosing Bail of all people as the target of his vent. They'd lost so many, and yet kept on. But like feeling the Force, he had no idea how he did it. He just did.

They sat in silence for a long time, watching the chrono as it ticked towards the end of their shift. Bail hadn't expressed his fear that the tracker hadn't been properly place, knowing that he needed patience to keep the command staff and the troops on task. But what if they were waiting for a signal that would never come? Despairing, he nearly failed to notice the string of data that was suddenly appearing on the screen of the tracker.

"That's it!" Obi Wan jumped up in a particularly non-Jedi like fashion. "We've got it!"

Each time that laying perfectly still with her eyes closed and her breathing steady started to get tedious, Leia forced herself to briefly relive the horrors of her torment by Vader and Tarkin. While the memories made her blood run cold, they were a remarkably effective incentive for remaining motionless on the hospital bed, convincing the Imperials that she was still unconscious following Tarkin's attack. Anything to stave them off a little longer.

A medical droid passed by, pausing at her bedside to take vital signs. Thankfully, they seemed entirely uninterested in brain activity. She assumed they hardly cared whether she was brain damaged, but rather just wanted to keep her alive for whatever nefarious purposes still were unfulfilled. They clearly were unconcerned about her mobility; she had noticed during a rare moment of privacy that while she had binders on her wrists, they were not latched.

Over the last day or so, she'd felt a building thrill of anticipation. Something was going to happen, though whether it was good or bad she didn't know. But the overwhelming sense that she had to be ready for action kept her poised to react and stopped her from sitting up to announce her recovery in hopes that they'd finally put her out of her misery.

"Endor." General Dodonna frowned. "That's clear across the galaxy. By the time we get there, they may have moved on."

"It could be our only chance," Obi Wan told him. "What if they discover the transponder?"

"We'd have to do multiple jumps," Dodonna added. "Bringing that may ships along the Hydian Way is going to attract attention."

"Let Captain Solo lead the battalion," Obi Wan suggested. "He seems to have a knack for cutting distance out of hyperspace travel, to hear him tell it."

"if we're going to act, we need to make a decision now," Willard interjected gently.

"And where do you stand?"

Willard frowned, closing his eyes. The lives of so many pilots were balanced on this decision, but if they were able to take out the Death Star before it could fulfill its horrifying purpose.

"I say go."

"I suppose Endor is slightly closer to Tatooine than we are now," Solo told Chewie as he slammed a panel shut over the hyperdrive motivator on the Falcon. "But I swear if you ever pull something like this again, I'll sell you to Jabba myself."

Chewbacca ignored him.

"And you're dealing with the passengers this time," Solo continued. "I'm just flying, you hear?"

Their passengers and their communications equipment were due to board in 15 minutes, and Solo took his last opportunity to dump some garbage in the Alliance's incinerators. Though they'd finally followed through on their promise to pay him—in cash—he especially wasn't happy that he was once again going to be hosting the Organas, in addition to Dodonna and two communications technicians. The queen had his number, which was rare enough that it made him intensely uneasy, and he hated how the Viceroy watched his every move like he didn't trust Solo to wash his landspeeder, much less pilot a ship. But the money made it worthwhile…mostly.

After his first painful trip over to the second Death Star, which involved placating no less than four whining commanders and admirals who protested the setbacks they would suffer from Vader's requisitioning of critical components of their battle station, the Dark Lord delegated the rest of the tasks to some trusted members of his stormtrooper legion and retired to his personal quarters. For the fifth time that day, he pulled up the medical reports from the infirmary. The princess's condition was listed as unimproved. Not wanting to raise suspicion, he'd fought his inclination to visit her bedside and review her treatment personally. He'd just have to wait.

In addition to its many other deficiencies, Vader was frustrated that the Death Star had nowhere for him to spar with a droid or ten to alleviate his frustration. A budding sense of anticipation had woken him from the rare bit of rest he enjoyed in his hyperbaric chamber. He presumed it had something to do with the princess. There were now three days left until the Emperor made good on his threat to begin dealing personally with the mess that he and Tarkin had created. He had to act before Palpatine arrived in order to save his potential apprentice- not to mention himself.

"There it is." Solo and the Organas had already seen the Death Star, so they moved back from the viewport to allow the others a glance. Dodonna furrowed his brow.

"It's not what I was expecting," he said. Confused, Bail stood and walked over to the viewport.

"That…doesn't look like it."

The device hovering in space ahead of them, orbiting the verdant moon, was equally large as the Death Star that had threatened Alderaan. Unlike that battle station though, this one was merely a shell—a superstructure with a cladding surrounding the weapon housing and the rest open to the vacuum of space.

A staccato beeping on the comm indicated a secure message coming through.

"This is Red Leader, we are in sight of our target."

Solo glanced around the line of sight from the viewport, then looked down at the radar.

"This is Hawkbat One. Negative, Red Leader. We can't get a visual on you. We're in sight of the target."

"Can't see you either, Hawkbat One." Solo recognized Luke's voice.

Solo sat back down at the controls and gently guided the Falcon back towards the approaching horizon of the moon. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Hawkbat One, we've got to get started here."

"Uh…oh boy."

"Negative, Hawkbat, didn't catch that."

"I think I figured out the problem." Solo blanched, looking over at Chewbacca as he swung the Falcon closer to the surface of the planet. "So much for staying out of range. Looks like we've got two bogies on our hands."

"What?!" Bail leapt up and dashed into the cockpit. As the Falcon spun towards the surface of the moon, concealing itself in the body's mass shadow, he noted with horror that the Death Star he remembered from Alderaan loomed in front of them.

"Begin attack run." Luke looked over at his old friend Biggs Darklighter, now his wingmate. His heart in his throat, he shoved his throttle forward and headed towards the massive battle station. Though Obi Wan was aboard a command ship and not near the comms station, Luke could have sworn he heard his mentor whispering in his ear. "Feel the Force, Luke!"

Tarkin stood on the bridge, looking out over the green Endor moon as a line of shuttles pulled up to the freight hangar directly below, bringing in loads of parts they needed to begin repairs to the weapon system. The process had been delayed by a day when Tarkin ordered that two of the head technicians be sent to the detention level and interrogated after they seemed unusually familiar with the potential points of failure on the system. Both had protested that they were merely trying to do their job, but Tarkin wouldn't be satisfied until he had a professional assessment of their honesty. He knew there were saboteurs here, somewhere. Of course, they might have fled with on the ships that left following the debacle at Alderaan, but with Palpatine due to arrive soon, Tarkin couldn't be too careful.

He was still puzzled over his conversation with the Emperor prior to Vader's arrival. He had steeled himself for fireworks, but the Emperor was sympathetic, almost kindly as he asked Tarkin to describe the incident moment by moment. He furrowed his brow as Tarkin told him about his belief that the station had been sabotaged based on the princess's confession, asking Tarkin to repeat verbatim what the girl had told him. Then he asked Tarkin to return to the moment of the explosion.

"Tell me, Wilhuff, what precisely was Lord Vader doing at that moment?"

"He was in charge of the prisoner. As you had recommended, he brought her to the bridge and was restraining her."

"And did he behave at all strangely before or after the explosion?"

"I'm not certain," Tarkin confessed. "My attentions were elsewhere at the time. He returned the prisoner to the detention level and then…."

"Then what?" Palpatine keep his voice calm, patient.

"I don't know, your Highness. I wasn't in contact with him for some time."

His assistant chimed his comm twice, alerting Tarkin that Vader had arrived.

"Lord Vader is here," Tarkin told Palpatine.

"Then by all means bring him in," the Emperor responded. "This has been a very interesting conversation."

What had the Emperor been driving at, wondered Tarkin. He'd been pondering the old man's words since his dismissal from the comms room. He'd almost seemed more interested in sussing out Vader's role than the Rebellion's, but even Tarkin couldn't bring himself to suspect that the Dark Lord had anything to do with….

"Sir!" Lieutenant Commander Purpol, a young Thyferran native only two years out of Carida who was nearing the end of his shift monitoring the sensor display, snapped Tarkin out of his reverie with a shout. "Sensors are showing a significant number of unauthorized ships just jumped into the system."

"Do we have a visual? Any identification?" General Bast strode across the bridge to look over the young man's shoulder.

"It's loading….looks like thirty two snub fighters, sir, plus three….no, four freighters, three heavy, one light. No identification broadcasts."

"Contact General Bisk," Tarkin ordered, referring to the commander manning the bridge of the counterpart Death Star on the other side of the planet, "See if they have additional information. And bring all stations to full alert." It was such a small force, he thought. They must be expecting inside help. "Lock down communications as well. I want no information coming in or out of this station unless it comes through the bridge. And get Lord Vader up here immediately!"

"Yes, sir!" The bridge crew snapped into action as the wail of an alert siren shook the walls.

Alone in a turbolift, Vader was headed towards the medical wing when the alert sounded. Simultaneously, his comlink beeped a code summoning him to the bridge. He reached out and pressed the emergency stop button, emerging into a hall filled with pilots marching towards their alert stations in the TIE hangars. He held out a hand to stop one young man. "Report!"

The man snapped to salute him. "Milord, enemy ships have entered the system. The station is on full alert."

Impressed with the pilot's speedy response and lack of panic when confronted so suddenly by the Dark Lord, Vader pointed him and two companions to step out of the line. "Come with me."

His comlink beeped again, and Vader ignored it. Tarkin was as capable as necessary up on the bridge, and he didn't intend to be trapped by infighting among the various egos still remaining on the battle station when he could be of more use elsewhere. The Death Star was hardly in danger from enemy fighters, he thought. Surely the danger sense whispering at the back of his mind was warning him that these intruders were here to steal back the young princess, and he wasn't going to allow that to happen.

"Now," thought Leia, her senses exploding with awareness a heartbeat before alarms began to blare. She could hear the frantic shouts of the human medics panicking at the indication of the attack. Without thinking, she sat bolt upright on her bed. A medic droid noticed and wheeled over to her side, intravenous needle in hand. With a yank, Leia freed herself from the loose binders and slammed her bare feet into the droid. It lost balance and fell onto its back, giving her the moment she needed to flee from the infirmary and into the hallway beyond.

The panicked medics, who had huddled in their walled office as the alarm began, hadn't noticed her escape. Leia ducked into an alcove to gather her thoughts before making her next move. She was hardly inconspicuous, clad in the remains of her white senatorial gown and little else. Hell, she thought, they could probably smell her from a mile away. But she knew that she needed to get off this thing, as much as she knew she needed oxygen. Crouching into the corner as a squad of stormtroopers clattered by, she took a deep breath to clear her head.

Across an empty corridor, a turbolift beckoned. She recalled that there were sixty two levels between the detention level and the bridge, but otherwise knew little about the layout of the station. She could spend weeks wandering before she found her way out, and the increasing volume of the alarms suggested that her time was limited if she wanted to make her way out alive.

"Where is Vader?" Tarkin said between gritted teeth, desperately trying not to show his frustration and fear at the turn of events. Out of nowhere, dozens of ships had appeared and started hammering his battle station. It wasn't so much that he feared their ability to actually harm the Death Star—that was impossible—but the panic induced by the unexpected attack was yet another setback before the Emperor's threatened visit.

"Bantha One, do you copy?" Dodonna fought to keep his voice even as he called to the heavy freighter housing the fighter squadron command staff. "Any info on that second station?"

"No, sir," Commander Hudsol responded, his voice crackling over the connection. "No indications that it's operational, but they may be holding back."

Dodonna gritted his teeth. He knew as military strategists did that battles rarely went according to plan, and that flexibility was as important a component of winning as good planning. But he'd never faced a surprise of this magnitude. What was to stop the second Death Star from wiping them all out while they attacked the first? Their only saving grace at the moment seemed to be that the two stations were both locked in specific orbits, and a deviation would have to be carefully calculated to avoid collision. If nothing else, it bought the Alliance some time.

Looking out through the viewport, Dodonna could see that the fighter squadrons were formed up and ready to go on order. Any delay at this point could cost dozens of lives and any opportunity to destroy the station.

"Proceed as planned, Commander," Dodonna said finally.

Because of the speedy timing of their departure and the distance, the fighter pilots had to spend the last leg of the jump to the Endor system in their X and Y Wings. They had been able to cram the ships into the three heavy freighters for the bulk of the journey, thankfully, riding in cabins that afforded at least some wiggle room and access to a refresher unit until they reached the Malastare system and had to painstakingly extract the fighters one by one for the final jump. Luke, who was accustomed to spending his days engaged in the vigorous physical activity of a moisture farmer, was beyond antsy by the time they began to form up into their attack formations. He took a deep breath, trying to concentrate on the Force and wondering if his father had ever found himself in a similar position.

"Red Squadron, lock S-foils into attack position," Commander Dreis ordered over the comm, "Report in."

Luke shivered with anticipation as Wedge, Biggs, and Brannon called in. Then it was his turn, for the first time in real battle. "Red Five, standing by!" He wished his father could be here to see this.


	10. Chapter 10

The incessant whoop of the alarm was giving Leia a terrible headache as she fled down the wide corridor in the opposite direction from the squad of stormtroopers. She had yet to formulate a meaningful plan, but figured heading towards where there might be more troops was better than heading towards where there were definitely troops. From the early briefings she had before undertaking her mission to collect and deliver the plans to the battle station, and the view Vader had treated her to before transferring her from his capital ship, she knew the station stretched for tens of kilometers from its center. The deep center was taken up by the reactor core, but it was cold comfort thinking that she might only have twenty kilometers to run before finding access to an escape route.

Her heart pounded as her feet slapped against the cold metal floor. Her dress flapped around her, the medics having removed her belt when she was admitted into the infirmary. She couldn't take time to reflect on her situation, realizing that the more she thought about it, the more despondent she would grow. She hadn't survived this long and escaped just to give up now. If nothing else, she would keep running.

Rounding a corner, Leia was relieved to see that the metallic walled halls weren't as infinite as they seemed. She emerged into a turbolift lobby. She stopped before crossing the threshold of the enormous blast door leading into the chamber, watching the lights above the four turbolifts carefully to ensure that she wouldn't be walking into a trap or inadvertent ambush. The lifts were designated by sections of fifty levels each, and a tiny legend was etched onto the wall next to the lift call buttons. Steeling herself, Leia started to step forward to see if the sign would give her any useful information when she heard voices coming down the hall towards her from the direction of the infirmary.

Frantic, she ran into the lobby, looking around for any hiding spot. The smooth, rounded walls didn't even give her the option of ducking briefly into a corner. She pressed herself against the wall near the blast door.

"Proceed up to the secondary TIE launch hangar on level 30," she heard a gruff voice saying. Would be useful information, she thought bitterly, if she weren't about to be captured or killed. She thought about hitting the button to call the turbolift, but before she could dash across to try, a group of six TIE pilots marched in, already clad in their black flight suits. She held her breath, and for a moment none of the men noticed the battered young woman in a tattered dress standing barefoot behind them. Her lips moved in a silent prayer that against all odds the pilots wouldn't notice her presence.

Then, one of them turned and gaped at her. "What the hell?" He took a step towards her as the rest of his team looked over to see what had caught their companion's attention.

"Stay away," Leia ordered sharply. She hardly blamed the man for laughing at her as he continued over and grabbed her firmly by the arm.

"Who are you and what in the hell are you doing here?" he asked. Leia looked at him in shock. She didn't know who she was? She knew the Imperials were secretive, but could these people have really been on this whole mission, including her fateful trip to the bridge, without even knowing who their prisoner was.

"Never mind." The gruff voiced man she'd heard in the hallway took out his comlink. "Secure her." Clearly he knew who she was.

This was it. She had only slipped away a few minutes previous and now they were going to take her back to her cell. Leia's body grew cold as she imagined being shoved back into that chilly, antiseptic soaked room. To hurt her again. She began to shake. "Let me go!" She shrieked, rage and terror bringing tears to her eyes. "TAKE YOUR KRIFFING HANDS OFF ME, YOU DAMNED SON OF A BITCH!"

The hand flew off her arm as the pilot slammed against the wall. Stepping back, Leia collapsed to her knees as the men exploded across the room, dropping helmets and equipment as their heads hit the metal walls with a sickening crunch. Retching, she noticed that the nearest pilot gurgled blood out of his mouth as he blinked. Then his head lolled back, revealing blood pooling in his gaping eyes. She reached up to touch her own face, wondering if somehow a bomb had exploded. But other than the lingering tenderness in her left cheek, she seemed to be unharmed.

"Hold it together," she whispered to herself. She had no idea what happened, but they were dead and she was alive. And she had a plan. That was enough for now. Stepping gingerly over the bodies, she spotted the control for the blast door and locked herself in. Then, working quickly, she gathered their sidearms, quickly checking the charge on each. Then, she found the smallest of the pilots and heaved the corpse over onto his belly, unzipping the outer jumpsuit and yanking off his boots. The boots were far too large and the jumpsuit was ridiculously baggy, but it was the best she had. Grabbing the helmet, she double checked that she'd heard correctly that there was a hangar on level 30, called the lift, and was on her way. Finally, a bit of good luck, she thought, forcing her hands to stop trembling as she felt the distinctive stickiness of blood on her palms under the dead TIE pilot's gloves.

"Red Five, report!"

"Sorry, Red Leader, what?" Luke pulled his X-wing into a gentle curve, avoiding a flurry of shots that burst out from one of the surface defense towers.

"Keep it together, Red Five. Any damage from that blast?"

"Uh, negative, Red Leader. I'm fine. Red Five, out." Artoo whistled at him, a message of concern showing up on his screen. Bail Organa had insisted that he use the royal family's astromech, and Luke gladly accepted. The Viceroy seemed strangely protective of him, and the Queen, whom he had only met days before, insisted on giving him a long hug before he boarded his freighter. But, old or not, Artoo was proving more than capable of copiloting. "I'm fine, Artoo. Just getting used to this Force stuff, you know?"

Back on the pilot command shuttle, Obi Wan sat down suddenly, and then joined Hudsol at the communications and display console. "Red Five," he said sharply, reminding himself to use call signs and not names, "This is Krayt Four. What did you just do?"

"Red Five here. Not sure what you mean, Krayt." Luke paused a second, and Hudsol and Obi Wan could hear the sound of him letting lose with several volleys of blaster fire. "Took out a TIE a minute ago."

"Watch your intentions," Obi Wan told him, sending a nudge through the Force as well. In his head, Luke heard Obi Wan's voice add "Beware the Dark Side, young Luke."

There wasn't time for an argument, but Luke was indignant. He hadn't realized he had done anything wrong.

As Red Squadron engaged the waves of TIE fighters that were flooding out of the Death Star, Blue and Green squadrons skimmed the surface of the massive space station, drawing fire from the towers and hammering them with ion cannon shots to disable as many as possible before the designated X wings began a run down the trench. Two of them followed a trajectory past the bridge, and Tarkin stepped back as they roared by mere meters from the outer hull.

Tarkin had wanted Vader to take over command of the defensive TIE fighter squadrons, and he lost composure briefly, cursing out loud when his aide finally reported that Vader had requisitioned a small group of fighters and launched in his advanced fighter to directly engage the attackers. Taking a breath, Tarkin turned to Bast. "How many fighter wings do we already have out there?"

"Two, sir. Twelve squadrons."

"Beg your pardon, General," Purpol spoke up, "Two flights haven't launched yet. "

"Two additional flights or not, that's enough," said Tarkin. "Order any remaining pilots to stand down. But stay ready for launch on my order."

Bast nodded at Purpol, who called down to the flight deck. "Stand down. No additional launches. Keep ports open and fighters prepared for additional mobilization on mark from the bridge."

"Acknowledged," came the tinny response.

"What in the hell do they think they are doing?" Tarkin muttered to Bast. "This is insanity. Sure the rebels must know that there is nothing they can accomplish with this petty effort."

"It could be a diversion," Bast suggested. "Perhaps they are trying to get a team aboard to free the princess?"

"Possible. But they've made no attempt to board."

Bast frowned. "I'll check in with the engineers. Perhaps they will have a sense of the risks."

"All right," replied Tarkin, "But don't take too long. This is already costing us too much time. I want the weapons systems operational before the Emperor comes. In fact, ideally we could have a demonstration so that he's not inconvenienced by having to leave Imperial Center. That would be better for all of us."

Sitting in the lounge area of the Falcon, Breha had picked and nibbled each of her nails down to the bed, and had turned to chewing the knuckle of her thumb. Her husband occasionally ventured into the cockpit to observe the progress of the battle, but she couldn't look. The thought of her daughter haunted her, the mystery of her disappearance and the subsequent attempted attack on Alderaan. Intellectually, she knew it was just a mother's desperate hope to hold her child again that kept her convinced that Leia still survived. But in her heart, she feared that the attack they had facilitated would kill Leia as well. She had asked about a rescue, but Dodonna, albeit kindly, had explained exactly how dangerous and hopeless such a mission would be.

She could hear Solo acknowledging hails from the other freighters, and her mind went to young Luke. Obi Wan had given Breha a warning glance when she embraced the young man, not wanting her to give away his secret relationship to Leia, but she couldn't let him go without once last hug. A true orphan himself now with the loss of his aunt and uncle, the boy had smiled shyly at her as he sent him off to his fighter.

She was surprised Obi Wan had let him go. One well-placed shot and the last hope for the freedom of the galaxy would be gone in a flash. Having little else to do, Breha went back to worrying and praying.


	11. Chapter 11

Confidence. Confidence. Confidence. Leia repeated the word over and over to herself as she stepped into the lift, sending it to level 30. Briefly, she recalled her father's advice before her first Senate hearing. She was the most junior member on the committee, relegated to the far side of the dais and mistaken more than once for a young page before the chair gaveled the proceedings into order. "Confidence," her father had said, "Is unfortunately more important in these settings than knowledge. Though I know you'll bring both to bear, my dearest. You must have absolute faith in your words and actions." He had been right. While Leia prided herself on doing her research, she also had learned to bluff with the best. She could do this.

The lift opened directly into an anteroom outside the hangar. She'd used the short ride to fit the helmet over her head and then tuck the stray wisps of hair away, using the reflective metallic walls as a mirror. Catching a fuzzy glimpse of herself before hiding her face behind the enormous helmet and breathing apparatus, she winced. The swelling had gone done, but a circle of black the size of an apple stretched from her eyebrow down her cheek. The tendrils of the angry red burn that ran up her neck met the bruise at her ear, a hideous mockery of some ancient war paint. Fastening the mask, she looked up and nearly jumped through the ceiling as the black cyborg figure reflected back at her. She took a calming breath, steeling herself for her next move and vowing to get this thing off as quickly as possible.

The anteroom had a control desk manned by a pair of non-comms, who were both standing to get a better view out the open hangar door for an occasional glimpse of a TIE fighter whizzing by. Leia sucked in her breath and marched forward towards the door to the hangar.

"Where's the rest of your wing?" one of them called over to her, starting to look in her direction before he was distracted by the sight of two TIEs zipping straight up perpendicular to the equator of the station. Leia continued to walk forward, pointing a silent thumb back over her shoulder in hopes of suggesting that the rest of the pilots were just behind her. A hail of green blaster bolts and the blur of a small snub fighter stopped her in her tracks.

It was an X-wing.

Bursting through the door to the hangar, she ran to one of the waiting fighters, whispering a brief thanksgiving to every deity she'd ever heard of that it already powered up. One of the non-comms followed her out, shouting.

"Wait, we need to check you out. Wait for the rest of your wing!"

Leia was too close now to stop. She pulled herself up the ladder into the fighter, searching frantically for the door control as he grew closer. Cursing, she slapped a button, but all it did was adjust the pitch of the seat. Fine- she had some more crude options.

The non-com's head poked up through the door. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked. "We're under orders for no more launches."

"I guess I'm not very good at obeying orders," responded Leia, bringing up one of the blasters she'd taken off the dead pilot and aiming at his face. The man blanched.

"Who the…" The bolt hit him square between the eyes, and he fell backwards onto the hangar floor.

As his partner saw the flash of the blaster and shouted, reaching with one hand for his comlink and the other for the control that would close off the hangar, Leia finally remembered where the standard fighter door control was and slammed her hand against it. The cockpit sealed with a whoosh of air and the little fighter bounced into flight. Confidence, she told herself again, shoving the stick forward to race out of the rapidly closing hangar. With a roll that came within inches of knocking one of the wings against the door, she burst out into open space.

After the stress and uncertainty of the preceding week, Vader found that flying in a pitched and deadly battle was exactly the outlet he needed. The Rebels were putting up decent competition, using the trenches built into the outer hull of the Death Star for cover as they made glancing runs at the various tower cannons. In the distance, his display showed a few freighters hanging back, presumably to dash in and attempt boarding to rescue the princess. He marked them for the other TIE pilots on the display, calling for a general alert should they move closer to the Death Star.

The mass shadow of the Death Star was creating some havoc with his display, making it hard to monitor the action on the far side of the station. He saw a brief blip indicating the approach of an X wing, then another, then another. Within seconds a full squadron had appeared in formation heading towards the surface.

"Sir." Bast approached Tarkin quietly, "We've analyzed their attack, and there is some risk. Shall I prepare your shuttle?"

"Evacuate? No." Tarkin scoffed. He thought for a moment . "Let's give these rebel scum a bit of a surprise. Move us out of orbit towards DS-2. I'm sure they might be interested in testing some of their smaller long range weapons."

"Are you sure?" Bast was not one to fear questioning his superiors. "I don't know if we have enough time to do the necessary calculations to keep us from colliding."

"We will only stay in that orbit briefly," Tarkin reassured him. "Once they've cleared these pests off, we can return to our work."

Nodding, Bast gave the order.

"All units, heads up." Dodonna furrowed his brow in confusion as he activated the comm. "Target appears to be moving. Bearing point-oh-eight."

"What are they doing now?" Bail murmured, watching the image of the Death Star inching slowly across the display.

"Probably heading out of the system," Solo called over his shoulder as he gently maneuvered the Falcon to keep the Death Star in view. "Maybe you scared them." Chewbacca barked a sharp rebuke at him.

"They're headed in the direction of the second station," Obi Wan's voice came over the comm. "Perhaps they are trying to bolster their defenses."

"Which just might work for them," Dodonna added glumly. "We need to accelerate our attack run. Blue Leader, report on tower defenses!"

"Got fourteen of them with ion cannons near the target," Blue Leader responded tightly, "Heavy fire here. At least a squadron, maybe two of TIES."

"Pull back, Blue and Green Squadron. Red Squadron, you're on. Blue and Green, watch their backs and keep up the ion bombardment behind them in case we need a second run."

"You hear that, Reds," Dreis said. "Move 'em out! And don't forget the rendezvous after we blow this thing- we're not gonna be done yet."

As they had planned, the twelve X-wings formed up into an arrow shape with Dreis at the point. Luke glanced over to his right, where Biggs gave him a quick salute. Then, shoving down the throttle, they dove into the trench.

Leia finally got her TIE to stop rocking and carefully tried the throttle again. This time, she managed to move it away from the Death Star in a smooth line, catching a wide view of the space around her. Below, she saw an unfamiliar green planet with no indications of developments or civilizations. The stars beyond were arranged into formations she'd never seen, but the smeared line of white stars deep in the sky indicated they were somewhere on the outer rim. In the other direction, the Death Star still loomed. She turned her ship to see if she could find out where the X wing had gone, and was horrified to see an Alliance Y-wing burst into a flaming explosion only a few kilometers away from her. She looked down at the monitor embedded in the dashboard in front of her, and saw that dozens of ships marked "enemy" danced around the surface of the Death Star. Had they come for her? Or could she even dare to hope that they had attacked with knowledge of how to destroy the evil machine?

She nearly screamed aloud when Vader's voice suddenly echoed through her small cockpit. "All wings, follow me towards sector BB. We believe they may be targeting the exhaust port."

She saw the lines of TIES break off their dogfights and head screaming around to the other side of the station, following a bent wing TIE Advanced. Vader, she thought, shaking. Every instinct in her screamed to flee, to get away even if it killed her. But if they were targeting the exhaust port, did that mean they had found a way to damage or destroy the station?

So many had already died to bring the Alliance to this moment, Leia thought. The team on Toprawa, her crew from the Tantive. She owed it to them to see it through. Gripping the controls as though she was hanging on for her life, Leia followed the rest of the TIEs towards the battle.

Thankfully, Luke found that the Death Star was large enough that he was able to easily deal with its forward motion while also avoiding crashing into the trench walls. His display showed the distance to the target was dropping maddeningly slowly, as the X wings zoomed at full throttle towards the miniscule port. He, Biggs, Wedge Antilles, and Jek Porkins covered Dreis as the rest of the squadron hovered above, clearing out TIEs that screamed in at them from the opposite horizon.

Closer, closer. Luke felt a drop of sweat trickling down his nose. He heard Dreis's breathing over the comm.

"I have a visual! Stay on target!" Dreis shouted with glee. There was an audible click over the comm as Red Leader activated his torpedo. "Stay on target! And, away!" On the mark, the remaining rebel fighters pulled back into open space, with the TIEs in close pursuit.

"Report!" shouted Dodonna, as all but one of the occupants of the Falcon pressed up against the viewport to see if they could catch of glimpse of what was happening.

"Negative." Dreis allowed a hint of defeat into his voice. "Just scratched the surface. We'll have to…evasive!"

A squealing and crackling over the comm indicated the loss of another ship. "There's too many of them! Red Seven, behind you!" They could only listen in horror as Red Squadron fled the onslaught of Imperial fighters. "Red Six, pull up!"

"Red Leader, we have to make another run," Dodonna said.

Gritting his teeth, Dreis dove back towards the surface of the Death Star. "All wings report in!"

"Red Two!" Antilles called as he shot a TIE off Luke's tail.

"Red Three!" Biggs was already heading behind Dreis.

A pause. Nothing from Red Four.

"Red Five." Luke was somber.

A long silence.

"Red Eight….Red Twelve."

"We're down to six," Dreis told Dodonna. "All wings, form up and cover me." They dove down for another run. "How many bogies?"

"Looks like at least twelve," Dodonna told him. "And watch out for that TIE Advanced coming in at point-oh-three above you."

"What TIE Adva…." Crackle. Crackle.

"We've lost Red Leader and Red Twelve!" As Red Two, Wedge was now in command. "Red Five, think you can hit it?"

"Just like nailing womp rats back home," Luke responded. "Cover me!"

As Tarkin had suspected, the squadrons of TIE fighters were more than adequate to take out the small fleet of rebels. Still, he appreciated Bast's caution. "Once the fighter wings are fully destroyed, I'll send over orders for them to take out those freighters," he explained. "But let's wait…I want to see if they try to engage."

As they drew closer to the second Death Star, Tarkin admired the view into the interior of the engineering marvel. The second design was far more sophisticated than the weapon he currently commanded, taking advantage of advancements in material science, quantum physics, and high energy laser design in the past two decades. He imagined a galaxy where the Empire boasted enough of the superweapons to keep order from one side of the galaxy to the other.

Vader smiled as much as his scarred skin would allow as yet another X-wing exploded into shrapnel above the Death Star. Only three remained now, each deep in the trench taking them towards the exhaust port. His two wingmates clicked their comms to acknowledge him, awaiting commands.

"I'll go after the leader," Vader told them.

Deep in the trench, the adrenaline buzzed through Luke's body like electricity. Silently, he watched as the distance to the target shrank. He knew there were TIEs behind him, and could only trust Biggs and Wedge to keep him safe as he concentrated on the mission ahead.

Then, blasts shot out. He heard a cry from Wedge. "I'm hit!" Holding his breath, he glanced down and saw that Red Two's designation was still on his computer. His friend was disabled, but not destroyed. "Get out of here, Red Two. You can't do any more good." Wedge peeled up and away, not wanting to distract the other pilots. "Sorry!" he called, disappearing into the distance.

The TIE fighters kept their focus on Biggs and Luke. One of the TIEs fired, and Luke's ship shook violently. "Artoo?" he called tentatively, slowing slightly. Then, panicked, "I've lost Artoo!"

"Pull out!" ordered Dodonna.

"Negative," responded Luke, shocking himself slightly with his own assertiveness. "I've got it locked down." He shoved down the throttle again and sped towards his target.

"Luke." His teacher's voice suddenly echoed loud in the small cockpit. Luke clicked his comm to start to acknowledge before realizing that Kenobi wasn't talking to him through the comm system. "Use the Force, Luke."

Hardly even realizing he was doing so, Luke reached up and switched off the targeting computer that showed the location of the port. Suddenly, his awareness was all around him, no longer confined to the numbers and grids appearing on the small screen in front of him.

"Red Five, you've switched off your targeting computer," Hudsol said. "What's going on?"

Next to Hudsol, Obi Wan breathed a sigh of relief that Luke had listened to him. The boy had no chance in hitting such a small target unless he allowed the Force to take over.

"It's okay. Beginning final attack run now." Luke's voice was tinny over the comm.

Leia finally reached the site of the battle in time to see one X-wing limp away and two more dive back in for another run at their target. Vader's TIE Advance was closing in on them. In desperation, Leia shoved her throttle forward and followed.

Breha finally emerged from her hermitage in the far rear of the Falcon when she heard the shout of concern for Luke. "What's happening?" she asked her husband, still refusing to look directly at the monstrous space station looming in front of them.

"He's making an attack run."

She looked down at the display. "There's only one other fighter out there backing him up!"

Han turned around. "I'm sure he'll…." Chewbacca, Breha, and Bail all turned to glare at him.

"What I was going to say," he grumbled, as he shifted the Falcon's engines to full power, "Is that I'm sure he'll appreciate it if we give him a hand." Damn Kid.

Vader pulled closer to the two X-wings, waiting for the precise moment that he was close enough to strike. Then he frowned, noticing a something interesting about the pilot ahead.

"The Force is strong in this one," he murmured. Such a shame to shoot him down. Vader's thoughts wandered briefly back to the young princess lying comatose in the infirmary. When this was done, he decided he would go to her immediately and see if he could wake her.

Closer, closer. Shots rang out from the TIE to Vader's right, destroying the trailing X-wing.

"I have you now," Vader said aloud. He aimed for the rear engine compartment, intending instant death.

A flash of light briefly blanked out his instruments, and he pulled up just in time to avoid the debris field left as the TIE next to him exploded.

"Yeehaw!" called out Solo as he knocked off the first TIE fighter coming after Luke. Aiming the Falcon downwards, he plunged towards the trench, intending to rush the TIE Advanced and fire with the front laser turrets.

Unfortunately for Solo, Vader was not so easily defeated. His alarm wailed as it neared the surface of the Death Star.

"You will never take her away from me," he growled under his breath, aiming at the Falcon and depressing the missile launch. The freighter bucked under the assault and its navigation dish fell away, shattering as it slammed into the Death Star's hull. Pulling up, the freighter backed out of the fight as quickly as it had appeared.

"Now." Vader wheeled around, heading back towards the X-wing. He dove at a steep angle, intending to head the rebel off before he could get to the final target.

The Force swirled around Luke, looking like a whirlpool that drained right into the spot that captured his full focus. He just needed another second, he thought, as his mind registered the TIE fighter roaring down from above him.

Then, a hail of laser blasts. Were it not for his steep descent, Vader could have used his momentum to continue towards his target, but the gravity of the Death Star started him spinning out of control. Trying to identify the source of the attack as he whizzed out of control away from the station, Vader could see nothing but a lone TIE fighter dashing for open space.

Luke fired. His eyes closed, he envisioned the bolt of energy entering the port as he pulled up and away. Smashing atoms, sending more and more protons and electrons to heat the elements within the reactor core until finally…boom.


	12. Chapter 12

"Well, damn."

Lieutenant Penzee, who had his back to General Claveur as he passed instructions to the gunnery commander, turned at this uncharacteristically blunt statement from his superior. A blinding flash of light brought shouts from across the room before he could respond. Gripping the control panel in front of him, Penzee watched as an enormous blast ripped through the original Death Star, the hull shattering. Speechless, the crew froze as the enormity of the view in front of them sunk in.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"All units retreat to rendezvous point!" Dodonna shouted into the comm. Then, he turned to Solo. "Can we make it?"

"Yeah," responded Solo tightly, "But I don't know how much we'll be able to do after that." He turned to Chewbacca. "I need you to double check our bearings manually until I can get some instruments back up."

Dodonna had already turned back to the communications array, which thankfully had survived the onslaught from the TIE Advanced that had attacked them. "Hudsol, how many pilots do you have left?"

"Green squadron has four, Blue has three, and Red has one; two if we can wrangle up a spare ship for Red Two."

"That doesn't give us much to work with to take out that other station," Dodonna mused. "What readings have you got from that thing?"

"Bigger," said Hudsol, "Not sure if any of the weapons are operational, but I'm going to venture a guess that at least some of the surface guns are working. It looked like they were trying to lure our fighters into range. The whole thing is shielded, but the generator is actually planet-based."

"Sir! Red Two here." Wedge's voice broke in, tinny.

"What is it, Red Two?"

"Well, sir, I've got a good view from up here and if we can just take out the shield generator quick, I think the rest will be taken care of."

Dodonna shrugged. "Hudsol, do you have the location of the generator?"

"Affirmative."

"Okay, transmit to all units. Let's hit it with ion cannons. Red Two, I hope you're right."

Looking out the viewport, Dodonna could see the tiny blips of light that were the heavy freighters and Y-wings dipping towards the green moon, disappearing behind the rapidly spreading cloud of debris from the destroyed space station. Grimacing, Dodonna pondered their next move if this didn't work. Unfortunately, retreat seemed like to be the best, and only, choice. At least they had taken out the fully functional weapon.

The rendezvous point they'd established was on the far side of the moon from the Death Star's orbit, but Solo stopped short, rotating the Falcon so they could observe the progress of their fellow Rebels. The cockpit had gone silent.

"Hawkbat, come in!" An excited voice over the radio startled them.

"Lu…I mean, Red Five! Are you okay, buddy?"

"Hell yeah!" Luke crowed.

"Don't get excited yet, Kid," Solo told him, chuckling. "Job's only half done."

"Where is everybody? My comms system went out when I put the targeting computer back on."

"Heading planetside. Trying to take out the shield on bogey number 2."

"What? I'll go…"

"No." Dodonna broke in firmly. "We need you to hold back in case we need another fighter assault after the shield goes down. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Clearly Luke wasn't happy, but he was done with disobeying orders. For the moment.

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Obi Wan strapped himself into a seat as his heavy freighter, the Calyon Nebula, suddenly dove towards the surface of the forested moon. He'd half listened in to the conversation between Hudsol and Dodonna as he fought to maintain composure in the face of the hundreds of thousands of screaming, dying voices that echoed through his mind. He was no stranger to death, even mass death, but the suddenness and violence that ripped apart the lives of those on the Death Star was beyond any experience he'd ever had during the Clone Wars. Focusing more deeply, he reached out, trying to find Luke's presence in the chaos.

"General Kenobi." Hudsol's voice startled him. "Can you join the gunners in the cockpit? Your skills could be useful."

Obi Wan nodded, unbuckling his crash webbing and walking unsteadily to the front of the ship. He sat down next to a young woman who quickly pointed out the targeting equipment before turning back to her own station.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Claveur's attention had turned to preservation of his own station within seconds, as first the blast wave and then chunks of debris began hammering the shield protecting the fragile hull. "Have the shield team increase power in the left hemisphere! And get us some backup!"

Holding his breath, he watching the sparks as more and more pieces of the destroyed station smashed into the shield. Most of the pieces were undecipherable twisted hunks of metal, but occasionally a computer terminal or even a recognizable piece of a shuttle or TIE fighter appeared, burnt black.

"Sir!" Penzee looked up from the comm station where he was relaying orders down to the shield generator station. "Shield gen reports they are under rebel attack!"

"Deploy all fighter wings!" Sweat appeared on Claveur's bald head.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"TIEs incoming!" In spite of himself, Obi Wan looked up, searching the skies for their pursuers. They were skimming the treetops en route to the shield generator, close enough to bend the tops of the tall conifers in their wake. He reached out with his senses, trying to find the shield generator among the muddle of life on the moon below.

"Target dead ahead," the pilot announced, "Fire on my mark."

Gripping the controls, Obi Wan took a calming breath. It had been so long since he'd been in combat…he shouldn't be here, he thought. He was supposed to be protecting Luke, nothing more. He'd promised Master Yoda, after the Jedi had, somewhat uncharacteristically, asked to reflect before accepting the order to take responsibility for the tiny baby boy. Bail had already left with little Leia, heading for Alderaan and home, and Yoda cuddled and shushed the boy as he wailed, little hands waving. He'd begun crying as soon as his sister was taken from the room, and Obi Wan found himself shaking as the cries increased in intensity. He could still hear Anakin's screams, burned into his mind by the brimstone of Mustafar. Almost unconsciously, he pressed his hands to his ears, trying to muffle the baby's shrieks as they echoed through the room.

"Strong he is," Yoda said calmly, bringing a gnarled finger to Luke's forehead, "Ready are you for this responsibility? Your only mission, his safety is."

"Yes, Master," Obi Wan said, embarrassed by his reaction to the baby. "I'm sorry, Master. I never realized a baby could be so loud."

Yoda chuckled as Luke finally began to calm, whimpering lightly and then snuffling around the old Jedi's robes. He began pecking his head up and down against Yoda's chest like a baby bird. "Find what you seek you will not, young Luke," Yoda told him as he beckoned a nurse droid over. "Hungry he is."

The droid took Luke, expertly slipping a bottle into his mouth, and Yoda gestured to Obi Wan to sit next to him.

"Time to heal you need."

"I know, Master."

"Seclude yourself, you will. To his family, take the boy. Watch him grow, you will. When the time is right, teach him what he needs to know."

"But when should I begin his training?" Obi Wan asked, his failure with Anakin once again looming fresh in his mind.

"Present itself to you, the right time will."

"But what if something happens to me, or to him?" Yoda glared at Obi Wan, annoyed at the hint of desperation edging into the younger Jedi's voice.

"Said you are able to protect him, you did." Yoda was firm. "Let the Force guide you, you must."

"Fire!" The order brought Obi Wan back to the present, and instinctively he pulled his trigger. A burst of ion blasts bounced off the thick metal of the building, the energy dissipating into the ground.

"Nothing," Hudsol reported, looking down at the sensor readouts. He looked up, watching as the second heavy freighter dove forward, raining blasts. They too had no success. "Let's make another run."

Three TIEs screamed in from above, their telltale wail audible in the thick atmosphere. The Nebula returned fire, hitting one of the ships directly and knocking another into one of the enormous trees. Another wing of TIEs swarmed the other freighter, which pulled away to try to draw them further from the rebels' target.

The Nebula rocked as the remaining TIE scored a direct hit on her engine. The interior lights flashed as the pilot struggled to keep her on course.

"Report?" Dodonna's voice echoed through the comms system. "Any progress? We don't have much longer before we'll have to abandon this strategy."

"We can't crack the building," Hudsol responded. "Taking anoth…" The comm cut out completely as the TIE hit them again.

"One more hit and we're done for!" the pilot called back urgently.

Hudsol joined him in the cockpit, looking up at the under construction Death Star visible in the distance. They were so close….the ship shook again.

"We've lost power in the primary engines!" the pilot yelled. "We're going down!" The crew began to scream as the ship suddenly descended into the trees.

Placing a warm hand on the sobbing gunner next to him, Obi Wan suddenly stood, closing his eyes. The Force was so strong here, surrounding the trees, the small beings that he could sense were watching the battle with trepidation from the canopy. Luke, he thought, reaching again for the boy. This time he found him, waiting far off planet and frantic with a mix of anticipation and pride and fear.

"Ben…." He heard the boy respond faintly in his mind.

"Be strong, Luke. The Force will be with you, always."

"Ben? Ben!"

Straining his abilities, Obi Wan let his whole consciousness drop into the Force. The ship was dropping quickly, relentlessly towards the ground. The Jedi envisioned the Force as a hand, steering them….

The ship shifted, and Hudsol looked up, catching Obi Wan's eye at the last second before the ship and its passengers were obliterated as they smashed into the structure housing the shield generator, smashing it into oblivion.


	13. Chapter 13

Invisible to begin with, the dissipation of the massive shield itself was unremarkable from space. The effect of exposing the unfinished hull to the hail of newly formed space junk was startling indeed.

In spite of their proximity, the powerful shields had managed to protect the second Death Star from the initial impact of the shockwave produced when its counterpart suffered a full power core meltdown and exploded. High above the atmosphere, the debris from the inner portion of the station continued its slow orbit around the planet, with no engines to alter its momentum. For the inhabitants of the moon below, it was a relief to observe at least temporarily that the streaks of light they observed as pieces of debris burned up on entry would not be followed by a massive rain of death. For General Claveur and the occupants of the second Death Star, however, who had not yet completed installation of the full array of sublight engines, this effect was beyond alarming.

"Abandon ship!" At a dead run, the staff on the bridge fled towards the door. Claveur stopped briefly to activate the station-wide alarm system, then froze in horror as an enormous jagged hunk of metal flew, almost in slow motion, towards the viewport in front of him. It struck on a pointed edge, opening a tiny hole to the vacuum of space. The whine of air escaping through the hole became immediately deafening. Turning, Claveur checked to insure that his staff had made their way out of the bridge towards the escape shuttles, then slammed his hand down on the control that sealed off the room. Then, his vision beginning to fade, he sat in the commander's chair and strapped himself down, hoping that if nothing else, instead of being sucked into space to be frozen and suffocated, he would at least be allowed the honor of going down with his ship.

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The cockpit of the Falcon was dead silent as the occupants strained to see the impact of the loss of shields on the second Death Star. Then, suddenly, a small stream of fog burst from one side of the hull, indicating a breach. Then another. Then another.

"It's breaking apart," Dodonna whispered. A huge chunk of cladding burst off the side of the station and drifted away, exposing yet more interior compartments to vacuum. "It's breaking apart!" Whoops and cheers filled the tiny room as more and more pieces fell away under the assault of debris, accelerating the station's disintegration.

"Uh, boss. I hate to break up the party," Solo said suddenly, "But I think we may have company."

"I think you're right, Captain." Dodonna watched as shuttles streaked out of the collapsing Death Star, zeroing in on the Rebel's point in near space. "All units, report in."

"Red Two, standing by. Going to need a pick up, sir."

"Red Five…standing by." Solo could have sworn it sounded like the Kid was fighting off tears.

"Blue Leader, standing by."

"Blue Four, standing by."

"Blue Seven, standing by,

"Green Two, standing by. Green Four, Five, and Nine are here too but lost comms. I've got a visual on them."

"Fr…Com….by..." The link with the heavy freighter cut in and out.

"Repeat, Freighter Comet?"

"Freighter Comet, standing by."

A pause. "Calyon Nebula, report?" Silence.

Standing next to Dodonna, Bail held his breath. Obi Wan was on that ship….."Calyon Nebula, report." He shook his head, watching the Imperial shuttles continue their approach. They would be in firing range in less than a minute. "All units, return to base. And good work out there."

Turning to Solo, Dodonna said, "Are we in any shape to jump to hyperspace?"

"I think so. Only one way to find out. Everybody strap in. We'll have to do manual nav but I can at least get us somewhere quiet."

Taking one last look down at the forested moon, now unnaturally illuminated by two massive space stations burning into oblivion, Dodonna headed back to the passenger compartment. The losses on the Rebel side were enormous, and he always insisted on taking time for contemplation before celebrating a victory. But looking at the space that once housed two mighty planet destroying superweapons, the scale of the Imperials' defeat struck him, and he smiled.

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Nearly hyperventilating, Leia glanced down at the radar screen every few seconds, expecting at any moment to see Darth Vader zooming after her to take his revenge after she'd shot his ship. She'd stuck around long enough to see that the X wing she saved managed to blow the Death Star to smithereens, letting out a cry of victory before she realized that the communications system on her ship was probably open to the Imperials on her channel. Without giving herself time to consider her options she had whirled away, heading for the opposite side of the small moon before she even noticed that a second Death Star loomed over the horizon.

Spotting a reasonably-sized break in the forest below, Leia decided that she'd be better able to throw off any Imperial pursuit if she ditched her craft. No one seemed to be following her yet, but her luck was sure to run out soon. If she could get away, maybe she could even figure out an option for flagging down the Rebels. Though that wasn't very likely.

Making a beeline for the clearing, Leia pulled back slightly on the throttle. She had plenty of experience flying small craft, but the TIE had a few quirks to which she hadn't yet become accustomed. The first was the sensitivity of the controls. As she pulled back, the fighter came nearly to a dead stop, bouncing as it hit the outer atmosphere. In a panic, Leia shoved the throttle forward again, nearly shrieking as the craft screamed forward towards the ground. Thinking she understood now, she pulled back gently, failing to account for the atmosphere around her. The ground came closer….closer….

"Come on, dammit!" she finally yelled, frustrated that she'd come this far only to smash herself into a million pieces on a strange planet. Her body tensed as she noticed the now familiar feeling of electricity crawling through her nerves. The ship shuddered, righted itself, and then bounced to the ground. Leia slumped in her seat, exhausted, as the ship's systems went quiet.

After satisfying herself that she'd managed to avoid any serious injuries during her landing, she quickly unstrapped herself and hopped out of the ship, gazing into the sky as she removed her helmet and tossed it away. There was nothing there, no one pursuing her. Taking a deep breath, she reached in to grab her supply of weaponry and searched around for any emergency kits. A knapsack was tucked into a compartment under the seat, and she pulled it out, glancing inside to see ration bars, a first aid kit, another small blaster, and a few packages that she assumed held other survival supplies. Wincing as she hoisted it onto her back, she double checked one more time for anything else useful and then ran into the forest.

She was grateful for the pilot's jumpsuit as she pushed through the low brambles that grew between the immense conifers. The air was thick with oxygen, scented with loam and the spicy aroma of the trees. Leia gulped it in, so grateful for the fresh, natural air that she nearly cried out with pleasure. Sweat dripped down her face as she pushed herself harder, leaping over fallen branches and roots until she had lost sight of the clearing and TIE fighter. Then she stopped, holding her breath and listening. The sound of snapping branches brought her around as she drew a blaster and aimed into the bushes, but only a small rodent emerged, ignoring her as it waddled away with its mouth full of tubers. She was sure the Imps could hear her heart pounding from space.

She holstered the blaster and looked around, jumping as the shadows of trees shifted in the gentle breeze. Her senses were on overdrive as she scanned the forest for danger. Another noise sent her leaping behind a fallen tree. This time it was only a bird, pulling away a chunk of the spongy tree bark to find the insects underneath. Curling into a ball in the small shelter between the tree and the forest floor, Leia finally let the giant wave of fatigue wash over her, and wept.

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First the laser shots and then the blast itself shorted out Vader's TIE Advanced, spinning him wildly away from the battle. In a stroke of impressively bad luck, the inertial compensators lost power, smashing him forward against the restraints in precisely the spot necessary to crush two controls in his life support suit responsible for blood flow. For the first time since Palpatine had dragged his ravaged body from the brink of death at Mustafar, Darth Vader blacked out.

He woke to the telltale vibrations of a tractor beam. He could see the large Imperial craft pulling him in, but beyond it was only stars. Where was he? Reaching deep into the Force, he cleared his mind and fought off the massive headache that was threatening to make him retch into his mask. The blood returned to his head, and he remembered the battle, the Death Stars…..the princess! He'd already begun to think of her as his apprentice; where was she now?

The airlock closed behind his fighter and he hit the control to lift the cockpit door. A phalanx of stormtroopers stood at attention, with a weary and slightly disheveled looking officer waiting by the side of the fighter.

"My lord!" the man exclaimed as Vader climbed out, using the Force to ensure he was steady enough to avoid stumbling in front of the troops. "Are you injured?"

"No, Lieutenant…?"

"Penzee, milord. I was assigned to the bridge crew of DS-2."

"I am uninjured, Lieutenant. Thank you for your concern. What report can you give me?"

Clearly relieved to have someone higher in command than him off the ship, Penzee began leading Vader towards the bridge. "The rebels destroyed DS-1, my lord, we don't know how yet, and then destroyed our shield generator so that the debris from DS-1 destroyed DS-2. We're retrieving survivors now, milord."

Vader stopped in his tracks. "How many survivors?"

"I'm afraid I don't know yet, milord. It was chaos- we were able to sound the evacuation order but General Claveur didn't make it off the bridge…"

"I mean from the Death Star- the functional one, the first one, Lieutenant! How many survivors?!" Please let them have evacuated. Tarkin he couldn't care less about, but if the princess was still on board when it blew….

"You are the only one so far, Lord Vader."

Reaching out with his senses into near space, he felt nothing. The moon behind them teemed with life, but the silent void in space mocked him. Silently, he turned and strode off the bridge.

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Night fell quickly in the forest. Soon, the skittering of small creatures starting their evening search for sustenance filled the air. Soft squeals rang out from the high branches of the trees, followed by the sound of something falling with a thump to the ground and then bones crunching. There was a crash as two hooved beasts met in combat, locking antlers as they competed for a mate.

Still huddling under the fallen tree, Leia shivered as the sun's warmth quickly faded from the soft bed of rotting bark and leaves on the forest floor. She clutched a small flashlight in her hand, too frightened of discovery to illuminate it yet. Heavy footsteps nearby sent her into a fit of terror and she shrank back into her tiny hiding spot. After a moment, a bit of reflected light from the system's main planet brightened the spaces between the trees, and Leia could see that the footsteps belonged to a large boar-like creature that was snuffling around the roots of the trees. It looked at her curiously, and then went back to its task.

Her legs beginning to cramp, Leia carefully stretched out, ensuring that she was still fully concealed. The hours of sitting still were taking a toll, and she became acutely aware of the cuts, bruises, and burns that crisscrossed her body. The empty pit in her stomach was glaringly obvious as well. She hadn't eaten anything since….she thought about it. Since she'd left Coruscant. A lifetime ago. Remembering the ration bars, she took one out, unwrapped it as silently as possible, and gingerly took a bite. She willed herself not to vomit as she swallowed, then dug around to find the small blister pack of fluids to wash it down. So far, so good. Maybe she at least would survive the night. Then, in the morning, she could decide what to do.


	14. Chapter 14

Solo swiftly calculated a jump to an empty region of space only a few dozen light years away, then turned on the map embedded in the main control display of the Falcon, breathing a sigh of relief when it seemed to recognize the region of the galaxy where they found themselves. The short range navigational equipment was still busted, and he probably wouldn't be able to engineer a fix until he could replace his dish. In the meantime, though, they were safe.

"Anybody gotta preference where we go to try to make some repairs?" he called towards the lounge, where Dodonna and the Organas were poring over a datapad. One of the comms techs that was sitting in the cockpit passenger seat leaned to look over Solo's shoulder and pointed to a nearby system.

"My brother and his wife live there on Bespin," he said. "Pretty sure there's no Imps, given that he hasn't been arrested yet."

Solo pulled up the information on the system and chuckled. "Look at this, Chewie. Lando."

"An acquaintance of yours?" Dodonna joined them in the cockpit.

"You could say so. Looks like he owns a mining colony. Should be a decent spot for a quick stop, and I'd bet they have the supplies I need." Chewie garrumphed at him. "No, he'll be fine. He may be a scoundrel but he's not a bastard."

Glacing sideways at the pilot, Dodonna returned to the lounge.

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The mining colony was a spectacular sight as they glided down across the cloud covered planet, catching glimpses of shining pods shimmering like teardrops in the morning sun. Solo tried not to look surprised when they gained immediate permission to land. His pleasure was short lived though. As they settled onto the platform, the flight traffic controller reported in a bland voice that the hourly charge for the landing area was five hundred credits, prorated.

"Okay, everybody stay on board. We don't need to attract any unnecessary attention," Solo told his passengers, "Me and Chewie'll go figure out about getting some parts, and quick. Five hundred credits per hour my ass…."

"Actually, we'll be taking our leave here, Captain," Breha announced, standing and picking up her bag. "Thank you for everything you've done, for us and for the Alliance. General Dodonna will make all the arrangements for credit transfers when you return to Yavin. And we'd greatly appreciate if you would leave the items we have stored in your….hold…with the Alliance for safekeeping."

"What do you mean, taking your leave?" Solo wasn't the galaxy's biggest fan of the two royals, but he also didn't approve of anyone running off and doing something stupid.

"We'll arrange transport back to Alderaan," Bail explained. "We don't know what the future holds, but our duty is to our people."

"I thought you all evacuated," replied Solo, "Least that's what it looked like when we dropped by."

"We did, but I'm sure there were plenty of people left behind, and some of the evacuees may have returned." Bail took his wife's bag and picked up his own. "Again, thank you, Captain Solo. You're more honorable than you give yourself credit for." Then he turned to Chewbacca and the other rebels. "May the Force be with us all."

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Four hours and several thousand credits later, the Falcon was outfitted with a new dish and improved navigation software. Dodonna watched out the viewport as Solo and Chewie walked back out towards the ship with a tall, well dressed stranger. The three bantered, looking generally friendly, and then shook hands before Solo and Chewie turned away to board the ship.

"So I was wrong, he is a bastard," Solo said to Chewie as they walked up the gangplank, "But at least we got some quality parts for the prices he charged."

"All set?" asked Dodonna, as Solo began powering up the ship.

"Yeah. Though I'm thinking about charging that back to you all…"

"I'm sure we can make some contribution," Dodonna told him, "Your ship was instrumental in our victory."

"Yeah. Hey, about that….sounds like there isn't much by way of info out there on your little battle yet. I sent Chewie to nose around and see if he'd heard anything, and it sounds like the Empire's keepin' it quiet for now."

"Interesting. Hopefully that will at least bode well for Bail and Breha on their journey home. Did they make it off?"

"Yeah," said Solo. "We were able to get them some fake identifications and they paid a pilot that Lando vouched for to take 'em back."

"All right then, Captain. Back to Yavin, and then we'll see you off. Unless you're interested in joining up?"

"With all due respect, General," said Solo, "No kriffin' way."

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The party was already in full swing when the Falcon reached the base on Yavin IV. The Comet had arrived first, and Wedge practically leapt out of the door before the landing cycle had completed, shouting about Luke's one-in-a-million shot. The young Jedi shyly peeked out as the rest of the freighter off loaded, and was quickly swept onto the shoulders of a huge furry Gotal ship tech and paraded through the growing crowd of cheering Rebels.

Solo had to leave the Falcon outside because the hangar was full of people, some of them already reaching levels of inebriation he usually only saw on Corellian feast days. He looked around, trying to spot familiar faces, when Luke ran up to him.

"Han! We did it!" The Kid was flushed bright red. Solo saw why when a tall female pilot with pale purple streaks accenting the warm brown skin around her eyes blew Luke a kiss, drawing his attention to the telltale lipstick marks near the Kid's ear. Chuckling, Solo shook Luke's hand and then pulled him in for a tight hug.

"You did great, Kid. I've never seen anything like it."

"Hey, thanks again for saving my life. I thought I was done for."

Solo laughed again. "Did you see that friendly fire at the end? We had the Imps so upside down, another TIE fighter took out that SOB that was chasin' you."

"Really?" Luke grinned. "I didn't know." Suddenly his smile disappeared. "Han, Ben's ship…."

Placing a hand on the younger man's shoulder, Solo gave Luke a reassuring squeeze. "They took out the shield generator that was protecting the other Death Star. I'm sorry, Kid…."

Blinking away tears, Luke looked down. "I didn't get a chance to say goodbye."

"I know, Kid. It's hard. But you did what you had to, and he did what he had to. He'd be real proud of you right now."

Brightening, Luke gave Solo a small smile. "He is proud," he told Solo. "Thanks….you're going to stay for the party, right?"

"Is there booze?"

"Yeah."

"Wouldn't miss it."

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TWO STANDARD MONTHS LATER

It figured that they would find a way to hunt him down and rope him in again before he could say Boo, thought Solo grumpily. The job had been promised as an easy retrieval. Then, once he was committed, an easy retrieval from a planet that may or may not be in Imperial space. Then, finally, a less than easy retrieval of contraband from a planet that was definitely within Imperial space. Now he was waiting for the contact to show up with the details and the advance, and if he hadn't needed the money to pay back the loan he owed to a speculator on Nar Shadda, he would have stood up and walked away when he recognized none other than Wedge Antilles, disguised as Galatic Express deliveryman, approaching him in the bar on Abregado-rae.

"Are you kidding me?" Solo glowered at Antilles as he sat down with a smug grin. "You go back and tell that boss of yours I said no way. What do you all think you're trying to pull?"

Undaunted, Wedge pulled out a credit chit and showed it to Solo. "C'mon, Solo, money's money, right?"

Solo crossed his arms and said nothing.

"And you call yourself Corellian."

"Look," said Solo, pointing a finger towards Wedge's chest, "I don't want any more of this. I just got done paying off some….benefactors…and for the first time in a long time, I only have a few problems. I don't need more."

"From what I hear you've got more than a few small problems," Wedge told him. "Word is that Cuco Enbeb is thinking about putting a price back on your head if you don't pay her back soon."

"How did you…damn it!" There was no use: the rebels were everywhere these days. "Okay, what do you want?"

"We need you to go back to Endor," Wedge said quietly. "The Calyon Nebula had a piece of equipment on board that had some critical codes. It was encased in buelarium, so there's a pretty good chance it survived the crash. We need you to find it and bring it back."

"You don't think the Imps already found it weeks ago?"

"Our spies in the sector said there hasn't been much Imperial activity in the last month, and frankly if they'd found that equipment we'd know about it. We're not sure what's going on, but we need to get in and out before they decide to go back."

Solo sighed. The second-to-last thing he wanted in the entire universe was to get mixed up with the Rebels again. He'd managed to make it through his last adventure with his reputation unscathed, even though the Alliance had insisted on presenting him with a made-up award for bravery in a ridiculous ceremony that Chewie insisted he attend. Unfortunately for him, the last thing he wanted in the entire universe was to have a price on his head again, especially so soon after he'd narrowly escaped Death by Rancor by paying Jabba triple what he owed. Rolling his eyes, he reached out to take the proffered spec sheet from Wedge.

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"Let's put down there," Solo said to Chewbacca, pointing out a clearing in the trees he'd spotted as they orbited the moon, wanting to ensure that there were no Imperials hiding out before they left the safety of the ship. "It's not real far from the crash site: we can get in and out in a couple hours."

As they landed, Solo noticed the burned out hulk of a TIE fighter resting not far from the edge of the trees. Oddly, it looked like it had been set ablaze after landing: there were no scorch marks on the surrounding high grass, and as he looked closer he noticed small piles of stones arranged in a circular pattern a few meters away. Wedge had told him that there were some primitive sentient beings believed to inhabit the forests: perhaps they had taken some kind of spiritual revenge against the Imperial interlopers.

Chewie pulled out the camo netting they would use to conceal the Falcon from any aerial surveillance as Solo warmed up the speeder bike he insisted Wedge scrounge up for him before departure. A long hike through the woods didn't sound like his idea of a good time. Of course, snuggling on a bike with a Wookiee wasn't that great either, but at least it would be over quickly.

After double checking both the camo netting and calibrating the north/south bearings on the datapad containing the map to the crash site, they set off. The speeder bike bounced a bit under Chewie's weight, clearly reaching its design limits, but the repulsors held up as they zoomed through the forest. There was little sign the Imperials had ever been there, though at one point Solo thought he saw the remains of a hastily dismantled camp site half buried under a carpet of leaves and bark. "They must be in full denial mode," he commented over his shoulder to Chewie, "Pretending like they never had anything here."

Solo brought the speeder bike to a stop several hundred meters away from their destination, concealing it behind one of the enormous trees. Putting a finger to his lips, he pulled out his blaster and crept forward. Chewbacca followed silently, crossbow at the ready.

The shield generator had been housed in a metal encased prefab structure half buried in the side of a small hill. Obviously anticipating the possibility of an assault, the building was thick enough to withstand bombs and blaster bolts. The precautions taken against conventional attacks ultimately proved costly though: as the crashing ship breached the fireproof cladding, the interior of the building was ignited and the searing heat efficiently contained inside the hull. The flashover melted equipment and staff in an instant, disabling the shields and allowing the rain of debris to tear apart the space station.

Now, the remnants of the structure and the ship that destroyed it were only minimally recognizable. A black gash in the ground was littered with charred chunks of metal and a few half melted helmets once belonging to Imperial soldiers. The tail end of the Rebel freighter was still relatively intact, sitting at an angle near the melted remains of a huge doorframe. The top of the small hill had collapsed in, revealing a sooty pit of what looked like it could have been machinery.

Approaching the wreckage, Solo stopped behind a boulder to evaluate. There were no signs anyone was nearby, but clearly there had been visitors at one point. Animal tracks crisscrossed the ashes, and a few boot prints were visible around the edges with one pair meandering through the remains of the ship. Frowning, he noticed a row of rocks lining the far edge of some freshly dug dirt. Nodding to Chewie, they crept over to investigate.

As they got closer, they could see that the dirt was sprinkled with dried out flower petals, and something shiny was laid on top of one of the flat stones. Solo knelt, picking up the small object. It was a half charred rank pin, complete with the Alliance insignia. Standing back up, Solo peered around into the forest, blaster in hand. Maybe it was just another local ritual, but he suddenly had the nagging feeling he was being observed.

"Here's what the thing looks like," he said to Chewie, showing him the picture Wedge had given them. "Let's find it and get out of here. This place gives me the creeps."

They began pawing through the wreckage of the ship, looking for the small square box. Solo didn't know much about metallurgy, but as they continued to search, he became increasingly doubtful that much of anything could have lasted through the inferno. Chewie called him over at one point, but it was a false alarm. Checking his chrono, Solo saw that they'd been hunting for more than an hour.

"Let's give it another hour and then we give up," he said, leaving a streak of soot as he wiped his face with his hand. Chewie nodded, then trotted away to do a quick recon on the surrounding area.

"What are you looking for?"

Solo nearly jumped out of his skin as he whirled around towards the source of the voice, blaster in hand. Above him, on the remaining hillside, stood a young woman. She was dressed in a white shirt with the sleeves haphazardly ripped off and baggy black pants and boots that were both far too large. Her hair was in a long messy braid hanging down her back, and a spiky red tattoo—or was it a scar?-stretched up her neck to her ear. She was heavily armed, a blaster in each hand and several more tucked into her waistband.

"Who the hell are you?" he said loudly, hoping Chewbacca could hear him.

"I asked you first." Her voice was slightly gravelly, and she coughed to clear her throat.

"None of your business."

She flipped off the safety on the blaster with her thumb, aiming for his head. "I think it is my business."

"Look, I don't know who you are but we've got no interest in bothering you." Solo studied her, his blaster finger never leaving the trigger. Part of her outfit looked Imperial, and the blasters she held were definitely Imperial models. But there was no way the Imps would leave some half feral girl to guard an old crash site. Maybe she was one of the natives the Rebels told him about? Though he thought they weren't supposed to be human. "I'm just here to pick something up for a friend."

"Well then you're too late. There's nothing left there."

Solo grimaced. The boot prints he'd seen must have belonged to the little waif that crept closer to him as she spoke, glancing around the forest warily as she approached him. As she approached, he could see that her bare arms were covered with fresh looking scars and old bruises, and dark shadows ringed her sunken eyes. At this range, he could see the mark on her neck was clearly a scar, the red skin shiny and raised. She twitched slightly each time she stopped, glancing around like a cornered animal.

Keeping his blaster aimed at her, Solo decided to take a risk.

"Look, I'm here for the Rebel Alliance. You know what that is?"

The girl took a few steps back. "Liar!"

"Why would I be lying?" He glanced backwards, looking for Chewbacca. This was getting out of hand, and someone was going to get hurt if they didn't get away soon. "Look, this was one of their ships. A lot of people got killed, and they wanted me to find something that belonged to them. That's the only reason I'm here."

Breathing hard, the girl said nothing. Solo gestured over to the lumpy pile of dirt, suddenly realizing what it concealed. "Did you do that? Bury the bodies?" He kept his voice gentle. "I'm sure that will mean a lot to the Alliance."

"Stop talking about the Alliance. I'm not going to tell you anything." Her eyes widened as she began to tremble. "You're trying to trick me."

"What are you talking about?" Solo had dealt with crazy people before on plenty of occasions, but he was usually better at calming them down. Paranoid women with blasters pointed at him were thankfully rare occurrences in his life, but now he faced the unenviable dilemma of whether to simply shoot her or keep trying to convince her that his intentions were relatively honorable. He honestly didn't want to hurt her: whoever she was, she'd clearly been through the ringer and probably had a damn good reason not to trust random strangers that showed up in her neighborhood.

Finally, with a roar, Chewbacca returned. He swung down from one of the trees behind the wreckage and tackled the girl, dropping her to the ground and yanking the blasters out of her hands. Solo dashed forward as Chewie pinned the girl to the ground.

Without warning, Solo saw the Wookiee blasted back through the air as though a grenade had gone off. The girl snarled and jumped up, running for their concealed speeder bike. Ignoring her, Solo sprinted to his friend's side. "Chewie!"

Chewbacca groaned as Solo probed his abdomen, looking for visible injuries. "What happened?!" The Wookiee shrugged, shaking his aching head. "Did she do that?"

The sound of a speeder bike engine brought them both to their feet. "Dammit!" Solo yelled as they chased fruitlessly after the girl. She disappeared into the woods, and the sound of the bike faded. "Wedge is going to expect me to pay for that."


	15. Chapter 15

The day was beginning to get hot, and Solo was monumentally unhappy as he and Chewbacca trudged back to the Falcon empty handed and sans speeder bike. At least they still had the map.

They took a more direct route to the ship than they had used on their approach to the wreck site. About half way back, they were surprised to come across a small village built into the trees, with ladders and rope connecting the network of bark huts. It appeared to be abandoned, some of the low walls scored with carbon from blaster shots. Solo nearly shouted as he tripped over bulge in the forest floor. Kicking at it, he revealed a stormtrooper's helmet, bloodied and painted with a grotesque face. He shuddered and hovered his hand over his blaster.

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Racing through the forest, Leia made her way back to the edge of the forest where she'd first spotted the man and the Wookiee. She knew they had a ship, though it was concealed under a camouflage net by the time she'd heard the sound of the ship and snuck over to observe. No Imperials had been around since they had driven off the tribe of furry little natives that had been poking around the enormous chunk of wreckage that had fallen from the Death Star near their village. Keeping a safe distance, she watched as a squad of stormtroopers had cleared away the jagged metal. The tribe, which as far as she could tell seemed to consider the space junk sacred, had attacked with spears and rocks and then been woefully outgunned. Though she was lonely, Leia was glad that her overtures to the creatures had never been successful. She could never allow herself to be recaptured.

But if they weren't Imps, what were they doing here? Leia didn't believe the story about being sent by the Rebels for a moment. It was too convenient. More likely they were scavengers, trying to find something of value to sell to one side or the other.

Letting up off the throttle, she drove the bike in a slow circle and checked the forest around her. No sign of pursuit at the moment. She held her breath and listened, trying to discern any unusual noises over the low rumbling of the bike's engine. Satisfied, she moved on.

Her mind was racing as she drew closer to the ship's landing spot. It was unlikely that it would be unlocked, but maybe she could wait for the scavengers to return and ambush them after they unlocked it. But they might have companions waiting on board to grab her the moment she tried to get away. Or it could be booby trapped, or have a tracker on board that would send a signal to the Empire showing a path back to the Alliance.

"No," she moaned, trying to focus on the trees ahead of her as her mind spiraled out of control. Breathing hard, she fought against the flashbacks that battered her consciousness. Vader. Tarkin. The cell. The terrifying , choking darkness that washed over her whenever she was able to snatch a few moments of sleep….

Steeling herself, Leia shook her head and pressed forward. She neared the clearing and then hopped off the bike, wanting to have some element of surprise in case anyone was waiting behind on the ship. She stood perfectly still behind a tree, counting to five hundred and watching the surrounding clearing, before finally stepping out towards the concealed ship. Slipping one side of the netting off, she gasped. She'd seen this ship before.

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Chewbacca, grumpy from a lingering headache, told Solo in no uncertain terms that the captain needed to stop complaining as they marched through yet another patch of swamp. Glaring at the Wookiee and scratching furiously at an insect bite on his shoulder, Solo bit his tongue and stomped through the smelly muck. "At least you've got fur to keep you from being eaten alive," he muttered. "How much further?"

Peering at the map, they were heartened to see that they only had another ten minutes of hard walking before they reached the spot where they'd left the Falcon. Picking up the pace, Chewbacca led the way over the last small ridge.

"Then we have to figure out what we're gonna tell Wedge," Solo said as they finally made their way into the clearing. "He's not going to be happy about that bike."

"Yeah, sorry about that. It's over there if you want it back."

Solo let loose with a string of curses as, for the second time that day, the girl startled the living crap out of him. Even Chewie hadn't noticed her presence, and roared as he literally leapt into the air in surprise.

"There's no need to be vulgar." Coming to his senses, Solo noticed the girl still had her blasters but kept them holstered at the moment. "You helped destroy the Death Star. I recognized your ship."

"Um, yeah."

"So how about giving me a lift out of here?" she said casually. "If you're with the Alliance, surely you can drop me with them…"

Annoyed at her sudden personality change, Solo crossed his arms and stood stock still. "What makes you think I'm going to let you on my ship? First you accuse me of trying to trick you into something, then you attack my partner, and now you're all sweetness and light? What gives, sweetheart?"

"I said I was sorry. You certainly weren't doing anything to instill confidence though."

"I didn't realize I was under any obligation to give you confidence in me."

Frustrated, she crossed her arms, mimicking Solo's stance. "I just want to get to the Alliance. If you get me there, I can pay you…"

"I've heard that before. Listen, sweetheart…"

"Stop calling me that."

"Well, you haven't given me anything else to call you."

Leia frowned. If he did recognize her, he was doing a fine job of pretending. If not, she hadn't yet gotten any good reason from him to reveal her identity, in spite of the ship's presence at the battle over the Death Star.

"Call me Eema," she said finally, giving the name of a childhood pet.

"Okay, Eema. I'm Han. This is Chewbacca."

"Hi."

"How did you get here, um, Eema?"

Her hackles went back up, and Solo regretted the question. "Never mind. I just don't want to get in trouble when I bring some strange lady to the Alliance, you know?"

She softened, appreciating his concern for the Rebels. "Just take my word for it, okay? Please?"

"Okay." Now that she wasn't pointing a blaster at him, Solo saw how frightened the girl was under her tough façade. She didn't look him in the eye as they spoke, but rather moved her gaze around the treetops surrounding the clearing. "Why don't you show me where that speeder bike is so I can take it back, and then we can figure out what we're going to do?"

Nodding, Leia pointed him in the direction of a copse of smaller trees about two hundred yards away from the ship. She walked next to him, staying a few arm lengths away and looking back suspiciously as Chewbacca went into the Falcon and started warming up the engines.

"So what were you looking for?" Leia tried again. She was so close to getting off this planet, and the fear of being left behind at the last second bubbled up like bile in her throat. Maybe if she could help them….

"Something that belongs to the Alliance," Solo told her.

"A box? With a barcode on it?" she asked hopefully.

Solo stopped in his tracks. "Yeah," he said excitedly, "Have you seen it?"

Leia dug into her pocket and revealed the small metallic box. "I found it in the wreckage. I wasn't sure what it was but I figured I should hide it from the Imps."

Smiling, Solo reached out to take it but Leia quickly jammed it back in her pocket. "I'll hand it over to the Alliance directly," she told him. "Now, here's your bike. Shall we go?"

As they reached the gangplank to board the Falcon, Solo stepped in front of Leia before allowing her on board. "Now look, sweeth…I mean, 'Eema', whatever that funny business was that you pulled on Chewie before, don't even think about trying it again. I have no problem putting someone out the airlock, even a woman, if they hurt my partner."

Leia frowned. "I didn't mean to hurt him. But he attacked me…"

"He'll be okay," Solo said, ignoring her excuse. "Just don't try it again, okay?"

"Okay."

"And you stay out of the cockpit. You can stay in the lounge and the bunk area." He sniffed the air meaningfully. "There's a 'fresher in there you can use."

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Settling into the pilot's seat and locking the cockpit door behind him, Solo ran through the liftoff procedure. "She had that damn box the whole time," he told Chewie. "As long as she doesn't kill us, we should be in good shape. We can dump it and her with the Rebels and be done with it by the day after tomorrow. Though before we leave Yavin I'm going to have a word with Dodonna about tricking me into Rebel missions. " He reached down to activate the speaker system that fed into the lounge. "Buckle up back there. We're leaving."

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Leia kept the crash webbing loose as she secured herself for takeoff, staring at the small galley. She could see boxes of crackers and cans marked with pictures of beans and vegetables tucked into the shelves, and a refrigeration unit hummed under the cupboard. She'd eaten through the ration bars in the emergency kit weeks ago, allowing herself one per day as she concealed herself from the Imperial troops that descended to clear away evidence of the destruction of their space station. She suffered through agonizing stomach cramps after she'd given into hunger and sampled some berries growing on a bush near her campsite before finally chasing down and killing one of the porcine creatures that frequented the small streams. Roasted on a spit, it was delicious, but she'd only eaten a few meals worth before she lost her prey to a fanged cat that drove her away from her camp. Now she was literally starving.

She forced herself to breathe deeply as the ship rumbled into hyperspace. She was not being kidnapped, she had come willingly. She was getting away and she was going to go home. But first, Leia stood and tore open a box of crackers, cramming a handful into her mouth as she raided the refrigerator. There, she found sealed packets of cheese and a shelf full of bottles of Corellian ale. She peeled the wrapper off the cheese, taking a bite and savoring the salty taste on her tongue.

"Sheesh." She whirled around, dropping the packages of food as Solo sauntered into the back, looking at her with a touch of disgust. "You could use a plate or something."

Swallowing the mouthful of cheese and crackers, Leia gave him a withering look. "I couldn't find any."

He gestured to another cupboard, opening it and pulling out a plate for her. "Why don't you get a bit cleaned up and I'll make something hot to eat? You like nerf steaks?"

Afraid she might be drooling, Leia shoved another handful of crackers into her mouth. "Sure."

"Okay then. And look, if you need something clean to wear, you're welcome to take something of mine. Go ahead and help yourself from the drawer in there."

Keeping her eyes on him, Leia backed into the bunkroom and slid open the drawer, pulling out a t-shirt and drawstring shorts. Trying to push the drawer shut again, she found it was blocked. She down to move whatever was stopping the drawer from closing and found a carved wooden box. Glancing over, she saw Solo watching her. "What's this?"

"Oh, something else to go back to the Alliance," he said casually. "I had some passengers a couple months back that left a bunch of stuff, and I missed that when I was offloading it before."

"It looks Alderaani," she said, tracing the delicate flowers etched into the wood.

"Oh, yeah, probably." Solo reached over to take it from her, but Leia popped it open before he could grab it. She gasped as she pulled out a gold brooch, mounted with a jade green stone and speckled with dark black and red diamonds around the edge. Clutching it tightly, she glared again at Solo.

"How did you get this?" She strode towards him, brandishing the brooch like a weapon. "It doesn't belong to you! Where did you get it?"

"Whoa." Solo held his hands up in a surrender, backing away. "I told you, I had some passengers that left it. I know it doesn't belong to me. They said I should give it to the Rebels, okay?"

"Who said?" Leia was shaking.

Solo sighed. He didn't want to tell this strange girl the whole history of his unwilling involvement in the Rebellion, but she looked like she was ready to rip his head off. "The lady it belong to, okay? Queen Organa, from Alderaan." Leia stepped back, the anger gone. "Look, why don't you go get in the shower. We'll all feel better if we eat something."

"She was here? On this ship?" Leia fingered the brooch. "When? Why?"

"Yeah, she was here a couple of months ago," Solo responded, ignoring the rest of her question. "What's it to you?"

"She's my mother."


	16. Chapter 16

"Your mother?" Han stared at her, now convinced she was trying to pull something over on him. For one, she looked nothing like the two dusky skinned monarchs he'd hosted during the whirlwind journey from Alderaan to Yavin and Endor. He knew they had a daughter, Leia, who'd been killed retrieving the plans for the Death Star, but there was no way this was her. "Nuh-uh."

"You don't believe me?"

"Hey, I may be a spacer but I know a little bit about genetics. There is no way she could be your mother."

Leia rolled her eyes. "I'm adopted, you nerf herder." Clutching the brooch in her hand, she closed the drawer and rejoined Solo in the lounge. "And you didn't answer my question. Why would my mother be on a ship like this?"

"Well, Eema…" he drew out the sounds of her pseudonym, mocking her, "I'm not at liberty to divulge information about my previous passengers."

"I beg your pardon?" She pursed her lips, and Solo noticed her accent and intonations were pretty similar to Queen Breha's. Still, the whole story smacked of being a little too convenient for his taste.

"I'll tell you what. Why don't we drop it until we get to the Alliance and they can confirm you are who you say you are. If they do, then I'll give you the whole story."

Sighing, Leia nodded. She had been out of touch with the galaxy for months now. Another day wouldn't hurt anything.

"Now, weren't you going to get in the shower? No offense, but whatever hygienic facilities you were using down there, I don't think they were up to modern standards."

As regally as possible considering the condition of her hair and clothes, Leia whirled around and stalked back towards the 'fresher, taking a moment to double check that both the door to the bunk room and the 'fresher room were securely locked. Then, after kicking off the boots, she stripped off the TIE pilot's pants and the remnants of her Senatorial gown that she had fashioned into a shirt, snorting as she noticed that they both held their shape as she tossed them to the floor. "I guess they are pretty filthy," she muttered to herself.

A small mirror hung over the sink next to the shower, but Leia avoided her reflection as she turned the knob to start the flow. She squealed in joy as she saw the real water begin to flow out of the showerhead. Cranking up the heat, she stepped in.

She'd been hiding out in the forest for more than a week when she finally got up the courage to take off the black TIE pilot jumpsuit and slip into a lake to wash away the dirt and grime that clung to her body. The lake was murky and full of algae, but she was able to find a shallow eddy that flowed clear near the head of a tributary that snaked into the forest. She'd hiked around the lake three times to ensure that no Imperials lurked behind the trees, then peeled away the layers of clothing and gingerly stepped into the cold water. Looking down, she had winced at the sight of her body, blackened with bruises over her legs and torso. Long, thin scabs ran down her sides and wrapped around her calves, and she could still see the red streaks down her arms highlighting the veins that absorbed the drugs they'd pumped into her. Beginning to tremble, she looked away and sat down in the water, which was only as deep as her knees when she stood. She scrubbed at under her arms with her fingers, trying as best she could to wash away the sweat and stench. Unpinning her hair, she ran her fingers through to loosen some of the dirt before rebraiding. She stayed in the water as long as she could stand it, then, shivering, stretched out the emergency blanket from her knapsack and lay in the sun to dry. A warm breeze, scented with the spicy aroma of the trees danced over her body, and she felt her eyes getting heavy. For just a moment, she closed them, drifting off amidst the tall reeds. But presently a tiny wasp had come through, landing on her arm and pressing its stinger lightly into her bicep. With a shriek, Leia leapt up, diving for her blaster and looking around wildly. She slapped at her arm and then pulled her hand away, finding the wasp crushed in her palm. It wasn't the droid. She was still alone. Weeping, she had thrown her clothes on and fled back to her shelter.

As she found some soap and began scrubbing at the layers of crud clinging to her skin, Leia found her knees growing weak at the memory. It had not been the last time that she truly believed she was back in her cell on the Death Star, cowering in terror as they abused her body more and more, even though her eyes told her she was in the forest. Turning to let the water run down her hair and back, Leia cracked the shower door open to peek outside. One of her blasters sat by the sink, undisturbed. She returned to washing for a moment, then hopped out briefly, dripping water across the floor, to check that the door was still locked.

"Hey, we only have so much water!" Leia could hear the captain faintly through the two doors. "And dinner's about ready."

Shutting off the water and watching the grey streams swirling down the drain, Leia stepped out and found a towel for her hair. Slipping on the borrowed shirt and shorts, she padded barefoot back out into lounge, grabbing two blasters as she passed through the bunk room.

"You know," he said as she stood watching him set plates out around the table, "I'd be more comfortable if we could observe a 'no blasters at the table' rule."

"You have a blaster," she responded, looking at the holster strapped to his hip.

He took it out and laid it down on the cupboard. "Better?"

"Sorry, no," she said, tucking her weapons into her waistband. "You're still bigger than me, and I'm outnumbered."

"You really think I'm going to do something to you now?" he said incredulously, "After letting you drain my water supply and serving you nerf steak? Paranoid much?"

"I'm being practical, Captain," she said with a tight smile. "Now, about that steak?"

Solo wasn't sure who ate more voraciously, Chewbacca or his mysterious passenger. He was glad he'd stopped by the warehouse store on Garos IV to stock up on food before this trip: they'd had a sale on frozen nerf steaks and he and Chewie nearly cleaned out their supply. Looking at the girl, he wished he'd also bought more soap. She spent half an hour in the shower and still had streaks of brown and grey running down her face and arms.

Suddenly she stood up from the table, an odd look on her face.

"You okay?" She looked even more pale than normal. Shaking her head, she fled back towards the 'fresher, making it just in time to vomit violently into the toilet.

"Whoa!" He ran in, using the towel around her head to gently pull her hair back from her face. "Chewie, get a cup of water!"

"I guess it's been a while since I've eaten that much," Leia said shakily, falling back towards Solo and taking a tentative sip of the water Chewbacca handed her. "That was embarrassing."

Helping her towards the bunk, Solo handed her a fresh towel to wipe her face. "Don't worry 'bout it." He saw that she was shivering and picked up a blanket to wrap around her thin shoulders. She pulled it tight, bringing her legs up underneath her and shrinking back from him. He took a step back and she relaxed visibly.

"Why don't you try to get a little rest?" he suggested, glancing down at her legs. They looked just as bad as the rest of her, bruised and scarred. What the hell had happened to this girl? She noticed him looking and drew her legs in closer, covering them with the blanket.

"Okay," responded Leia, continuing to sit until Solo and Chewbacca got the message and backed out of the room. Leia stood, still clutching the blanket, and engaged the lock, checking it twice before returning to the bunk. It was a standard issue military grade bed with a thin, firm mattress covered in a flannel sheet and two blankets. She lay down flat on her back, pulling the blankets tight over her body. It was the first real bed she'd been in since leaving Coruscant. The ship vibrated and hummed gently around her as her body finally warmed. Within minutes, she was sound asleep.

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Taking a few of the bottles of ale with them, Solo and Chewbacca retreated quietly to the cockpit. They stared ahead at the whirling colors of hyperspace, occasionally checking their progress on the navicomputer.

"Do you think she's telling the truth?" Solo asked Chewbacca finally, taking a glug of ale, "About being the princess?" Chewbacca shrugged. He shared Solo's suspicions about her story and was still sore from her attack on Endor. "On the one hand, she doesn't seem quite right in the head. But on the other hand, she looks like somebody worked her over with the business end of a gaffi stick."

"I think she may be on drugs," Chewie finally responded in Shyriiwook. "Did you notice the marks on her arms? And there are some that can give a human enormous strength."

"I dunno. The way she pitched you…I don't think there are any drugs that could do that."

"Then how did she do it?"

Solo just shook his head. "I don't know." Finishing his drink, he tossed the bottle into a glass receptacle in the corner behind him. Then he cocked his head, putting his finger to his lips. "You hear that?"

The Wookiee listened for a second, then took off at a dead sprint towards the lounge. Solo leapt up and followed.

From outside the locked door to the bunk room, they could hear the sound of bloodcurdling screams interspersed with loud crashing. "Eema!" Solo called, banging on the door. He turned to Chewbacca. "Go back up to the cockpit and override the lock."

Chewie disappeared, and a moment later the door slid open. Solo ducked as a lamp came flying out and smashed into the wall across the lounge. Covering his head as he peeked in, he found a scene of total destruction. The bunk had fallen against the opposite wall, blocking access to the far side of the room. The contents of his clothes drawers were strewn across the room, and the drawers themselves smashed to pieces on the floor. The small bedside table lay on its side, two legs broken off.

In the midst of the mess, Leia stood, eyes open and mouth wide as she continued to scream. Stepping into the room, Solo stared at the girl for a moment, but she didn't seem to register his presence. Chewbacca joined him, roaring when he saw the state of the room.

At the sound of the Wookiee's below, her body jerked and she dropped to her knees, clutching her head. "What…..where…" She looked around wildly, spotting Solo and jumping back to her feet.

"What the hell happened?!" he said, picking his way through the mess towards her, "What did you do?"

"What are you talking about?" she retorted angrily, her voice hoarse. "I didn't do this."

"Then who did it? You were the only one in here."

"How could I have done this?" she said, gesturing at the bunk.

"I don't know," Solo admitted. "All I know is we heard you screaming and came running and found this mess."

Her eyes dropped to the floor. "I had a nightmare."

"So you decided to trash my ship?"

"No!" She threw her hands up in frustration. "I was asleep, okay, until he woke me up." She gestured at Chewbacca.

"You threw a lamp at me," Han added, accusingly.

"No I didn't," she insisted. "I was asleep."

"Come here." He reached out to grab her arm, and then thought better of it as she jumped back with her lips in a snarl. "I want to show you."

She stepped forward into the lounge, keeping a wary eye on the captain and Wookiee. "See," said Solo, pointing at the shattered lightbulb and bent metal lamp base. "You're telling me you didn't do that?"

Leia shrank back towards the bunk room. "Stuff just happens sometimes. I was asleep." She reached out to shut and lock the door behind her.

"Stuff doesn't just happen," Solo shouted at her through the door. "You are going to pay to have this cleaned up, you understand?"

"Fine," hollered Leia back at him.

"And you're not coming out of that room until we get to base!"

"Fine!"

Solo stomped back to the cockpit, engaging the outside lock on the room. Thankfully they only had a few more hours to go, and then he could get that lunatic off his ship. It meant that he and Chewie didn't have access to the 'fresher until they arrived, but he'd live. If nothing else, they had the empty ale bottles.

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Leia stood perfectly still, looking at the locked door in front of her. She thought about swallowing her pride and asking Han to release her, but she could hardly blame him for being concerned about her threatening his safety. She had never understood, but things like this happened before. Once, at one of her forest campsites, she'd woken from a terrible nightmare to find the logs of the campfire smoldering high in the trees around her. Another time she'd hidden away in one of the abandoned indigenous villages and found the furniture smashed to pieces around her after a restive night.

This time the dream had been about Tarkin, which in some way was a refreshing change, she thought dourly. No longer content to haunt her with images of bogeymen and monsters, her brain now forced her to relive the horror of her captivity moment by moment any time she was able to find an opportunity to rest.

She had been lying silently on her metal bunk, exhausted from the ordeal on the bridge. For a brief moment, she could see the miles of wires that powered the Death Star's superlaser, feeling their connections snaking from the control panel on the bridge to the weapons array like it was a part of her own body. She didn't know how, but deep down in her soul, she knew she had been responsible for the malfunctioning laser. A mix of pride and satisfaction and terror kept her awake as she tensed in anticipation, her wounded cheek throbbing.

Two uniformed guards entered without comment, grabbing her by the arms and using electromagnetic cuffs to pin her to the wall. Forced to half sit, half stand with the backs of her thighs pressing into the hard edge of the bunk and her arms extended uncomfortably above her head, Leia steeled herself for another session with Vader and his minions. On the bridge, she thought the Sith might kill her: now she feared he might do worse.

When Tarkin came in, alone, Leia was momentarily relieved. Anything was better than Vader with his drugs and ability to reach into the far recesses of her mind. She sneered at him as he brandished a neuroprod.

"They already tried that, Governor." Her mouth was dry as she remembered the agonizing shocks the stormtroopers inflicted on her, but she buried her fear. "It didn't work."

"That doesn't concern me, Princess. I'm just here for a little chat while our engineers make a few small adjustments to the weapons array. Don't worry, we'll still have the fireworks display I promised." He paced in front of her.

"The fireworks were already highly amusing, Governor. Tell me, how many men did you lose in that little demonstration ceremony?"

Tarkin hovered over her, drawing closer as he brought the neuroprod up directly in front of her face. "I'd watch your tongue, Princess. I may decide that I want to see how well this works in that mouth of yours." She pressed her lips shut, glaring at him.

"Now, while we wait, why don't we discuss exactly what's going to happen on Alderaan when the laser fires. I'm sure you're curious." He paused, relishing the horrified look on the girl's face.

"You'll never succeed," she hissed at him. "I stopped you once, and I'll do it again."

"Really?" Tarkin smiled at her. "You did, did you? Why don't we talk about how you accomplished that remarkable feat? Maybe we can start with some names of who was helping you?" He turned down to the prod, flicking a switch and watching with a satisfied smirk as sparks flew from the various nodes. Leia cringed in horror as he reached out to grab the collar of her dress, ripping it away to expose her neck and chest.

"You keep your filthy hands off me!" she spat. Tarkin ignored her, holding the prod up and pressing it against her. Burning pain exploded through her torso and up her neck as she screamed, her body tensing and vibrating.

It was at this point that Chewie had woken her up.

Leia walked over to the fallen bunk and yanked the mattress onto the floor. Sitting down, she wrapped the blankets around herself and waited.


	17. Chapter 17

The Outer Rim had been Tarkin's bailiwick. Vader suspected his current assignment overseeing a portion of the late Grand Moff's jurisdiction was not only a reminder that Palpatine blamed him for the loss of one of his more effective regional governors, but also for Vader's own safety. The Emperor's violent reaction when Vader limped back to Imperial Center on board a small shuttle evacuating the ruins of two Death Stars notwithstanding, it appeared that Palpatine was not interested in replacing his apprentice at the moment. So instead of killing him slowly in retribution for his failure, the Emperor ordered him shipped off to the far reaches of the galaxy to breathe down the necks of a Star Destroyer crew as they patrolled the far arm of the Perlemian Trade Route.

Generally left to his own devices, Vader had hours to ponder the conversation with Palpatine that had transpired when he arrived at the Imperial Palace. First, the Emperor had been oddly solicitous, inquiring about his safety. Then the old man's mood turned darker as he questioned Vader about the primary weapons failure over Alderaan.

"You felt the disturbance in the Force as I did," Palpatine said quietly, staring at his apprentice. "Tell me, Lord Vader, what was the source?"

Leia Organa is dead, thought Vader. There is no reason to protect her any longer. But still, he paused before responding to the Emperor.

"I do not know, Master."

"Have I overestimated you?" Palpatine hissed, standing and advancing towards where Vader knelt. "You are a master of the Dark Side, and yet you cannot tell me the source of a nearby disturbance in the Force? This was no ripple, Vader. I sensed it here. And yet you fail me."

Vader said nothing, knowing he had no choice now but to endure the old man's tirade.

"You never approved of my weapon," the Emperor continued, pointing an reproachful finger. "Governor Tarkin reported that you told him that the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant…" he spat out the word and then paused, "next to the power of the Force. Do you deny it, Lord Vader?"

Realizing the depth of the accusation Palpatine was making, Vader started to stand and then thought better of himself. "Master, I had nothing to do with it."

"Look me in the eye and tell me that." As Vader looked up, Palpatine threw up his hands and forks of lightning smashed into Vader, knocking him to the ground. Another burst drew a groan from the Dark Lord. "Tell me."

"I swear it to you. I had nothing to do with it." Writhing, Vader tried to push himself upright as Palpatine continued his assault. "And…master! Master!"

The lightning disappeared. "What, Lord Vader?"

"One of the rebel pilots used the Force before firing the shot that destroyed the station, Master." He came to his hands and knees, wheezing as he tried to placate the enraged Emperor. "Perhaps he was the source of the earlier disturbance."

"You think the Rebels have been concealing a Jedi this whole time?"

"No, Master. Whoever it was, they weren't trained. But very powerful, and focused." Vader struggled to get back up into a kneeling position as Palpatine slowly walked back to his throne.

"I will have Intelligence investigate and see if they can find the identity of this pilot," said the Emperor finally. "In the meantime, you will return to your quarters and await my orders."

The orders had come a few days later, and Vader shipped out to rendezvous with the Star Destroyer Supremacy in the Belderone Sector. The crew was smart enough to be worried when he first arrived, but then soon seemed to sense that his presence on their ship was a means of disciplining him, not them. He made thrice daily reviews of the bridge, getting nominal reports from the captain, but otherwise remained solitary, spending long hours in his cabin pondering his future.

The thought of having an apprentice had been tantalizing. Rather than regretting the many years Leia had been right under his nose, he considered how her ability to conceal her powers in the Force could have served him in taking down the Emperor. Even Palpatine never suspected what secrets the girl hid during the months she spent on Imperial Center. And best of all, she had clearly been destined for the Dark Side. The power she used on the Death Star was fueled by fear and rage, belying the self-righteous altruism she espoused in the Senate.

If only he'd arrived at her cell early enough to stop Tarkin from nearly electrocuting her. The idiot allowed her to get under his skin. Had she not been comatose in the infirmary when the station was destroyed, she might have found a way to survive. Tarkin was lucky he was already dead.

His thoughts turned to the X-wing pilot who'd managed to elude him twice before making the impossible shot that blew the Death Star to bits. He'd only gotten a vague sense of him, enough to know it was a man, probably young. He too had been remarkably powerful, but his grip on the Force seemed more controlled than Leia's. Perhaps he'd had instruction. In any event, Vader's interest was purely academic. The Emperor was committed to identifying the pilot and hunting him down, which meant the young man's life expectancy was severely curtailed.

His door chime buzzed. "Yes?" he said into the intercom, not bothering to open the door.

"Milord, the Emperor bids you make contact immediately."

Vader stood. What could it be now, he wondered, as he made his way towards the secure communications room. Perhaps his exile was coming to an end. With some eagerness, he stepped into the room, dismissed the technician, and shut the door.

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"You still okay in there?" Solo knocked on the door to the bunk room, which had been quiet ever since he'd locked Leia in.

"Yeah," came the soft response.

"We're about to exit hyperspace. Is there somewhere you can strap down in there?"

"Not really, with the bunk loose."

Solo sighed. He didn't want to let her out until they were landed and had some more back up, but he could also hardly leave her in there to get banged up in their reversion to realspace. "Okay, you can come out. But you need to stay out of the cockpit." He waved to Chewbacca, who unlocked the door.

She was sitting upright on the bunk mattress, which sat in the middle of the floor. Clearly she'd tried to do some cleaning up: the broken chair was propped in the corner with the detached legs stacked neatly underneath, and his clothes had been refolded and set into the space formerly occupied by the drawers. Solo offered her a hand to help her up, but she pushed herself to her feet and stalked into the lounge, buckling herself on the bench.

"I'll let you know when we're at the Rebel base," he told her. She nodded and then looked away, whether with anger or shame he couldn't tell.

Back in the cockpit, Chewbacca had prepared the controls and they smoothly decelerated and popped into the Yavin system just outside the first Rebel beacon. Sending a coded signal, Solo waited until he was hailed.

"Freighter, please identify," came a woman's voice.

"Millennium Falcon, access code beta-four-oh-seven-oh-four."

"Millennium Falcon, you're cleared to land in the main hangar."

"Actually, can I head to the auxiliary hangar on the south side? I've got a passenger that I need cleared."

"Hold on, Falcon." The woman's voice disappeared and a man came on. "Solo?"

"Solo here."

"This is Willard. Good to hear your voice again, son. What's this about a passenger?"

"Well, here's the thing, General," Solo rubbed his chin. "I picked her up on Endor. She claims to be the Princess of Alderaan."

"What?! Well, is she?"

"I can't say one way or the other. But she seems a little…unstable. I think it might be better to have her checked out before you let her on base."

"Good thinking. Land on the south side and we'll meet you with a team. Keep your passenger on board until we get there."

"Copy that, General."

Solo glided gently around the outer wall of the Massassi temple that served as the Rebel headquarters, putting down on an outside platform that clung to the south wall high above the jungle. He was relieved to see a small team of armed guards, accompanied by two medics, waiting for them. Whoever this girl was, he just wanted her to be someone else's responsibility.

He poked his head back in the lounge before lowering the boarding ramp. "Stay put, okay?" he said. "They're going to send in some people to bring you inside."

Leia nodded silently, but Solo noticed worriedly that she was starting to tremble again. "It'll be okay," he reassured her. "Remember, we're at the Alliance base. I promise." He reached out and touched her shoulder gently, and for the first time she didn't cringe away. "I'll be right back."

He stepped out, waving to the awaiting crew. Willard and Dodonna had both come personally, along with another General that Solo didn't recognize and two armed security personnel who stepped ahead of the medics.

"Solo." Dodonna shook his hand heartily. "So glad you were willing to lend a hand again, Captain."

"Yeah, about that…"

Willard held up a hand to stop Solo's response. "Captain, this is General Carlist Rieekan. He's known Princess Leia Organa nearly her whole life."

"Do you think it's her?" Rieekan asked.

"She told me at first her name was Eema," Solo said, "And then she found some jewelry that the queen left on board when she took off at Bespin and got pissed when I….General?"

Rieekan was already making his way onto the ship. "She had a pitten named Eema when she was little," he said.

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Leia counted the seconds as she waited for Han to return. She could hear voices outside, and had unbuckled her crash webbing in case she needed to make an escape attempt. At the moment though, she wanted to wait. Han already thought she was violent and crazy, and she wanted to do anything she could to dispel that notion.

Hearing footsteps coming up the ramp, she stood, ready to attack or flee as necessary. A man appeared, silhouetted in the sunlight from outside.

"Leia? My gods…."

From outside, Solo started as he saw her leap up and throw herself at the General. He very nearly pulled out his blaster before realizing that she was clutching the man in a tight embrace as tears poured down both their cheeks.


	18. Chapter 18

Solo had gone back to move the Falcon into an inside hangar while the three generals bundled Leia inside. Setting down, he called the deck officer over and organized a crew to unload the borrowed speeder bike when a young woman approached him.

"Captain Solo, do you have a few minutes? Dr. Ii'maro would like to talk with you."

"Uh, sure," he said, giving Chewie a wave and following her through the stone hallways.

"I'm Purkin Tallem," she said as they walked. "I'm one of the day shift nurses in the infirmary. Dr. Ii'maro is trying to do a medical evaluation of Princess Leia, and she mentioned she's been having hallucinations. It would be helpful to get your take of what her condition was when you found her."

They walked passed a droid guard and through the double doors into the infirmary. It shared the rough stone walls of the rest of the base, but with gleaming metal tables and clean white linens starkly contrasting with the primitive interior.

"Dr. Ii'maro?" Purkin called over the tall, white jumpsuited man sitting near a bank of computers. "This is Captain Solo." Peeling off one of his latex gloves, he shook hands.

"Thanks for coming," Ii'maro said, gesturing for Solo to join him at the computer terminal. "I've been entering in my notes about the Princess's condition, and I was hoping you might be able to clarify a few things that she told me."

Glancing at the screen, he saw her basic vitals: height, weight, age….hm, she was younger than he realized. Below that, in caps, he saw DIAGNOSIS, followed by "severe post traumatic stress disorder, malnutrition, multiple severe contusions, bones, patient reports hallucinations & poss. seizures. Poss. drug interactions-blood test refused by patient."

"So Princess Leia told me that while you were in transit, she blacked out and apparently broke a few items of furniture while unconscious?"

"It was more than that, Doc," Solo said, suddenly feeling embarrassed to complaining about the girl's strange episode. "The whole room was trashed. The bunk was ripped off the wall- it had been bolted down."

"Hm." Ii'maro made a few notes. "How was her demeanor immediately following that?"

"She seemed confused, and upset. Like she'd been having a bad dream. She said she didn't remember doing anything."

"That's what she told us as well. Do you have any reason not to believe her?"

"She just seemed so jumpy, you know, paranoid. Like I was going to turn around and try to kill her at any moment. I thought she might have just snapped. But then, like I said, she seemed so upset afterwards."

"She's been through a lot in the last couple of months," Dr. Ii'maro sighed. "Did she give you any details on what had happened after she was captured by the Empire?"

"No." Solo shook his head. "She wouldn't even tell me who she was at first."

"She's been reticent with us as well. Honestly, I think she's afraid of being treated." He paused. "She's asked to see you."

Leia had the only private room in the infirmary, and with General Rieekan refusing to leave her side and two nurses buzzing around, it was a tight squeeze for Solo and Ii'maro to join them. Finally clean and with her hair washed and braided in a crown around her head, Solo could finally discern the girl's royal bearing. She was dressed in a long white hospital gown with blankets tucked neatly around her legs, and she smiled as she saw her visitor.

"Han! I didn't know if you'd come." Turning to the rest of the occupants of the room, she said, "Can I have a moment?"

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" General Rieekan squeezed her hand. Leia gave him an affectionate pat on the arm.

"I promise, Carlist. Besides, I'm sure you have other things to do besides babysit me."

"Don't let her get up," Ii'maro said to Solo as they filed out.

The moment the room had cleared, Leia gestured to Han to shut the door.

"You look a lot better," he said, settling down on a chair next to her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Been worse," she replied with a shrug. "Look, Han…I owe you an apology."

"Hey, it's nothing a few spare parts won't fix."

"I don't mean the bunk room," she insisted. "I shouldn't have been so mistrusting. There was no good reason I should have assumed you were an undercover Imperial…I don't know what got into me. It had just been so long, and…." She ducked her head, tears pooling in her eyes.

"Look, sweetheart…I mean, uh, Princess?" Crying women always made him uncomfortable. "I'd be freaked out too if I had been held prisoner by the Imps."

"You don't understand." She swiped at her eyes, frustrated. "I saw you right after you landed. I followed you because….because I was going to kill you. I honestly don't know why I didn't. That's why I wanted to apologize."

"For not killing me?" he joked, hoping to get a smile. Leia merely pursed her lips.

"I wish you would take me seriously."

"Sister, you wouldn't be the first lady who's planned on blowing my head off. I get by."

"Fine then." She looked exasperated. "Thanks for coming by. When are you headed out?"

"Tomorrow. Why?" She seemed eager to see him leave, he thought with some irritation. After everything she'd put him through, including her most recent confession, he thought she might show a little more interest in his future welfare.

"Would you take me to Alderaan?"

"What? No! Why the hell would you want to go there?"

Leia cocked her head at him, eyes flashing. "Because it's my home," she said icily.

Suddenly Solo realized his mistake. "Um, uh, look….why don't I go grab General Rieekan again?"

"Don't you walk out of here," she ordered. "Why wouldn't I want to go to Alderaan? Why did you respond like that?"

"Well, it's just, um, you're in no shape to travel…." He turned again towards the door.

"I managed to survive alone, with hardly any supplies, on a primitive planet for two months," Leia retorted. "I think I could handle a flight to Alderaan." Then she paused thoughtfully. "You're worried I'm going to do something to your ship again, aren't you?"

"No, no." He looked back at the door, wishing someone would come rescue him from this conversation. "I know you didn't mean to do that. It's just, well, see, Alderaan's not the best destination right now."

Leia began to push herself out of the bed. The look on her face made Solo take a step back. "Why?"

"It's interdicted," he told her finally. "No one's allowed on or off, and they've cut off supplies. There's a big Imperial garrison there enforcing martial law." He held up a hand. "I think you're supposed to stay in bed." Before she could respond, he whipped around and pulled the door open. "Dr. Ii'maro?" he called hopefully.

The doctor swept back into the room, nurse in tow. He frowned when he saw Leia pushing herself off the bed. "Princess, please," he said, taking her arm and guiding her back. Then he looked at Solo. "Is everything all right?"

"Why didn't you tell me about Alderaan?" Leia burst out. "What else are you hiding from me?" She leaned over the side of the bed, clutching the edge of the mattress in tight fists. "Get Carlist and Jan in here right now!"

"Princess, please calm down," Ii'maro said, nodding subtly to the nurse, who scurried out. "I don't want to see you harming yourself further."

"I'm not harming myself," she said angrily. "I have a right to know what's happened to my home."

"Please just relax. I promise you'll be briefed on everything once you're in a more stable condition." The nurse reentered, tailed by a 2-1B medical droid holding a syringe. Solo saw a familiar look flash across the princess's face.

"I don't think that's a good…" he started, trying to step between the bed and the nurse. Too late. He instinctively ducked as Leia screamed and fled behind the bed. The droid spun as it was launched back into the main medical suite, its torso breaking in two as it hit one of the metal exam tables. Wide eyed, Ii'maro stepped back, pressing himself against the wall.

Peering up over the bed, Leia glared at him. "I told you," she said furiously, "No needles." Climbing back up, she collapsed onto the pillow, drained. "Go get Jan and Carlist. Please." Nodding, Ii'maro fled.

After a moment, Leia looked up, surprised to see that Han was still in the room.

"That was a little extreme," he commented mildly, looking out at the wreckage of the med droid.

"I suppose this is a bad time to continue trying to convince you that I'm not going to lose it during our trip," she said, letting her head fall back down.

"First of all, I haven't agreed to any trip yet. Secondly, how do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"What you just did? Throwing stuff across the room like that?"

"I don't know." She rolled over, muffling her face in the pillow. "It never happened before….on the Death Star. Now it seems like whenever I get scared, suddenly I just have this…power, I guess. I don't know how to describe it."

"What happened on the Death Star?"

She pushed herself upright again, and stared at the wall for a long minute. Then, finally, she said, "They wanted me to tell them where this base was. I wouldn't. I tried to tell them I wasn't involved in the Rebellion, so they…they hurt me. Drugged me. I don't really even know what all happened. But I wouldn't tell. So then they…." Her words caught in her throat. "They brought me up to the bridge and we were at Alderaan. Tarkin, he was the commander, said that they would…." She began to weep openly. "They were going to fire, to destroy it. I thought it was hopeless, and then suddenly it was like I just had this power. I don't even know how it happened, but then I heard an explosion. The control panel had blown, and the laser. I don't remember anything for a while after that."

He listened to her wordlessly, watching her as she fought through the memories. He knew a few of the details of what the Empire did to suspected criminals when they wanted information, and even that little bit of knowledge was enough to make him cringe when he looked at Leia. Had he not seen her action, he would have thought the torture had addled her brain and convinced her she had superpowers. He'd known enough delusional people to see the signs…..

"You know, I think there's someone here you should meet," he said abruptly.

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"My spies have located the pilot," Palpatine said as Vader bowed before the hologram. "His name is Skywalker."

Forgetting himself, Vader leapt to his feet. "What?" The Emperor stood silently, refusing to respond until Vader resumed his genuflection. "Are you sure, Master?"

"Luke Skywalker, of Tatooine," Palpatine went on. "Newly enlisted with the Rebellion, just over 18 years of age." He paused to let Vader do the quick math in his head.

"It's not possible," he said finally, shaking his head, "The child was dead before it was born."

"You think your former Jedi compatriots were above deceit?" Palpatine hissed.

"But how could they have hidden him from me?"

"Find him, and you will find your answers, Lord Vader." Palpatine walked closer. "If he joins the Dark Side, the son of Skywalker could be a powerful apprentice." He drew the last word out and in a sudden panic, Vader wondered if Palpatine had somehow deduced the treachery he had planned using Leia. "You will return to hunting the Rebellion. Capture Skywalker and bring him to me. Together we will find the true extent of his powers."

"Yes, my master."

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Solo figured it would behoove him to warn Luke before introducing the Kid to the Princess. He found him in the pilot's ready room, going over the results of a sim with two other fighter pilots.

"Hey, Kid!"

"Han!" Luke beamed as he stood to hug his friend. "Wedge told me you were coming back."

"You should come say hi to Chewie too before we have to ship out," Solo said. "He's missed you."

"Definitely!"

"Um, look, Luke, you hear about my passenger I brought back." Han guided him to a corner of the room.

"No, what passenger?"

"Well, you remember that princess that told you to take the droids to Alderaan a couple months ago?"

"Yeah, Princess Leia. The one who got killed in the battle over Tatooine."

"Well, she wasn't. She's here."

"What?!" Luke's eyes lit up. "She survived?"

"Who survived?" One of the other pilot's heard Luke's exclamation and looked up.

"Princess Leia! She's alive! She's here!"

"Well, no fooling…" The other pilot went back to his review.

"Can I see her? Where is she?" Luke demanded, clearly annoyed that his fellow pilot did not share his enthusiasm.

"Slow down, Kid. You've never actually met her, have you?"

"Well, no, but I feel like I have." Luke was practically bouncing. "I think about her all the time."

"Maybe don't tell her that straight off," Han cautioned. "It's not as impressive to women as you might think. But Kid, there's a reason I want you to meet her. You know that 'Force' stuff you do?"

"'Force stuff?'" Luke raised an eyebrow. "You make it sound like card tricks."

"Whatever, Kid. Anyways, the Princess, well, she's had a rough time of it the last couple of months, and she told me she's been doing stuff that's hard to explain. Pushing thing from across the room, stuff like that. I thought maybe you might know what was going on. It's been freaking her out."

Intrigued, Luke began to gather up his datapad. "Let's go see her."

"Just remember, she's kind of tough nut to crack. She wouldn't even tell me her name at first."

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Leia was cranky when they were led in by Nurse Purkin. Rieekan and Dodonna had just left, after assenting to the additional visitor.

"I'm sick of being treated like a child," she said to Solo. "You know they haven't heard a word from my parents in two months? Why did you let them go back to Alderaan if it was so dangerous?"

"Why did I 'let' them? Sweetheart, it is damn obvious where you get your stubborn streak." He gestured to Luke. "This is Luke, who I wanted you to meet."

Luke stepped into the room, staring wide eyed at the young princess. Compared to the hologram he'd seen of her, begging Obi Wan Kenobi for help, she was thinner and wearier, her cheekbones forming sharp angles under her big brown eyes. He still thought she was beautiful.

"Leia Organa," she said, holding out a hand and looking at Luke expectantly. Luke shook off his reverie and grasped her hand warmly. "Have we met? You seem familiar…."

"I don't think so," said Luke. "I found your droids on Tatooine."

"You did?" Leia smiled brightly. "I'm so glad that worked. I thought there was no way I could keep the plans away from the Empire."

"And Luke's the one who blew the Death Star," Han added, nudging his friend as he blushed. He was happy to see that Leia finally seemed more at ease. Luke did have a way with people.

"That was you? That was amazing! I saw…."

"You were there?" Luke asked quizzically.

"I made it off the Death Star in a TIE fighter. I tried to come help, but I couldn't do much."

"Wait….was that you that shot the TIE off my back?"

Now it was Leia's turn to blush. "It was the least I could do."

Before Solo could stop him, Luke ran forward and grabbed Leia in a tight embrace. "You saved my life."

Watching Leia carefully, Solo expected her to panic as Luke held her tight. He braced himself for an outburst, but none came.

"Why don't I let you two chat for a while?" Solo said, stepping backwards out of the room. He pulled the door shut behind him.


	19. Chapter 19

It took Solo a good twenty minutes to make the short walk back to his ship. Word of his arrival had spread through the base, and it seemed like every other person wanted to say hello and catch up with him. There were plenty of new faces, too—apparently the last couple of months had been successful for recruitments.

Finally he made it back to the Falcon, which had a stack of parts and freeze dried food sitting outside. Feeling guilty, he picked up the boxes of food and put them back on the pallets on the side of the hangar. The princess hadn't eaten that much food…

Poking his head in, he called out to Chewbacca. No answer. The Wookiee probably had made his way to the mess hall, he thought with a chuckle.

"Solo?" A voice called in through the open door.

"Yeah?" He walked back out and saw General Rieekan. "Hey, thanks for all this." He gestured at the piles of bolts and beams. "It's not necessary."

"Her Highness insisted," Rieekan told him. "I'm looking for Skywalker. Heard he was with you. Do you know where he got off to?"

"I took him to meet the princess."

Rieekan pulled out his comlink and tapped in a code. "Check the infirmary for Skywalker. I want three ships up now, he can join the next wing with Janson and Celchu." Then he turned back to Solo. "I'm afraid we may have to delay your departure."

"What's goin' on, General?"

"One of our sentry beacons spotted an unidentified craft in near space. From what we can see right now, it looks like it might be an Imperial probe droid."

"Anything I can do to be helpful?" Solo offered, hoping that Rieekan would decline. As far as he was able to tell, his name and ship had remained clear of association with the Rebels since the attack on the Death Star, and he preferred to keep it that way. Notoriety could be helpful in piracy, but less so in the smuggling business.

"Just sit tight for now," Rieekan said, starting to walk back across the hangar. "Hopefully this is a false alarm. This base has served us well for a while now."

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Not wanting to give the intruder a visual confirmation of the presence of the highly recognizable X-wings, the Alliance deployed their A-24 sleuth scouts. Luke was excited for the chance to try one of the fighters, though the bulkier shape of the fuselage took some getting used to as he maneuvered it through the atmosphere. Once they were in space, he gave into temptation briefly and tested the acceleration. Zipping ahead of his wingmates, he grinned.

While he usually enjoyed his opportunities to fly, he hoped this was a quick mission. He and Leia had been deep in conversation when Commander Farr had poked her head in and summoned him away. The princess protested when Farr told her that she didn't know the reason for the unanticipated mission, but lay back down and promised to rest when Luke assured her he would come back as soon as he returned to base.

As he often had since the battle over Endor, Luke wished desperately that Ben was still alive. Leia had told him about the terrifying and exhausting surges of power she'd experienced, and when he concentrated, Luke could sense the glowing power of the Force in the young woman. It felt strange though, like a swirling conflict of hope and fear and determination and anger—so unlike the warm sun he felt when he pictured his own presence in the Force. There was a familiarity too, though. He wondered if all Force users felt that common connection—though his link to Leia was so different from what he felt with Ben. If only….

"Rogue Five, you take the equatorial approach." Wedge's voice broke in. In honor of their fallen comrades, they had retired the old Red squadron designation upon their return to Yavin. While the awaited the delivery of new X-wings to replace those that had been destroyed in battle, Wedge had been officially named commander of the newly inaugurated Rogue Squadron. Luke hoped that someday he too could earn that rank.

"Copy, Rogue Leader. " He broke off from the wing and swung down along an axis perpendicular to the vector of the planet's rotation. Artoo whistled at him and transmitted the blurry image of the object spotted by the sentry beacon.

"Doesn't look like much," Luke commented, eyeballing the picture of the round, black object. "Scan 360 degrees and see if you can pick anything up."

He gently turned as he reached the planet's equator, increasing his speed relative to the rotation of the body. A low cloud cover obscured the trees below.

"There!" An object streaked directly ahead of them, plunging through the clouds. Luke put his scout ship into a steep dive, following it as Artoo squealed. "Can you get any readings on it?"

The round object left a telltale streak as it slowed, giving Luke a contrail to track. He kept a good distance behind it, watching as it propelled itself over the treetops.

"Rogue Leader, I found our bogey." Luke activated the targeting computer, trying to angle himself to get a clear view. "Transmitting specs now."

From the base, Dodonna frowned as he examined the feed from Luke's ship. "Looks like a Viper class probe droid," he said tightly.

"Copy that," Wedge responded, suddenly feeling chilled. "Not good."

"What do you want me to do?" Luke gave the droid a bit more space as it continued to slow, tracing a long arc over the forested continent below them. "It's not near the base yet but it's headed your way. Probably be there in the next couple of hours at this rate."

"It's scanning the atmosphere for evidence of ships," Dodonna told him. "It'll zero in on us sooner than that."

"Take it down?" Luke fingered the trigger. Unlike the more heavily armed X-wing, the scout only had laser cannons. He hoped the droid wasn't shielded.

Dodonna paused. Shooting down the droid now would give the Empire proof that someone was on this ostensibly uninhabited planet. They could hurry to bring all their equipment into the thick stone walls of the old temple and hope that the droid captured nothing of interest as it passed by, but the sensor arrays would likely detect at least an unusual power levels and give their exact location away.

"Take it down," he said finally. "Better that we leave them wondering."

Luke took a deep breath, accelerating to match speeds with the droid. Instantly it detected his presence, diving towards the thick canopy of trees below. He put the scout craft into a spin, tailing the droid and firing. The first two shots missed, then another ricocheted off the droid's metal exterior. Luke let off another blast and finally the droid burst apart, shrapnel burning as it fell to the forest below.

"Target destroyed," he announced.

"Good work," Wedge told him. "All units, let's get back to base. I have a feeling this isn't over yet."

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Dodonna met the pilots as they climbed down out of their ships into the hangar.

"Do you think it got much of a look at you, Skywalker?" he asked without preamble as Luke pulled his helmet off.

"I don't know. It might have. It definitely knew it was being pursued," Luke told him.

The A-24 scouts were older vessels, with production predating the defection of the Incom corporation engineers to the Alliance cause. In fact, these particular ships had been acquired through an equipment swap with an expat Fresian investor who had taken some ships as collateral for funding R&D at Incom that had led to the development of the most modern model of X-wings. But the company's ships were almost synonymous with the Alliance now, and if the droid gained even most the perfunctory ID on Luke's ship, it was likely that more heavily armed Imperial scouts would soon follow.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Dodonna sighed. They'd maintained the Yavin base far longer than he expected, especially after their success with the Death Star. As the Empire hurriedly tried to cover up any evidence of the superweapon's existence, the Rebels had been able to hunker down and use the respite to build up their military capabilities. The downside was, of course, that the longer they stayed at a single central base of operations, the more entrenched and less nimble they became. An evacuation would take a long time.

"All the more reason to start now," he said aloud. He reached over to activate the basewide intercom system. "All hands, report to the assembly room in 10 minutes. Code Yellow."

"Evacuation?" Wedge asked, standing up . Dodonna nodded.

"I'm sorry," Luke called after them as they began to leave the room. "This is my fault."

"It's not, Skywalker." Dodonna turned back. "You did us a great favor by destroying that droid before it could get details on our presence here. If we're lucky, the Empire will just send scouts and we'll be able to outnumber them and get away clean."

"I hope so…" said Luke, following the general towards the assembly hall.

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Though technically not under the jurisdiction of the Alliance command structure, Solo and Chewbacca ambled into the back of the enormous assembly hall to see what had warranted the sudden meeting. He'd last been in here accepting an award for his last minute entrée into the battle around the Death Star, which he'd insisted on sharing with Chewbacca as they stood in front of the gathered pilots and soldiers. Now the atmosphere was much more anxious, rumors building and flying in the few minutes between Dodonna's announcement and his call to order.

"Hey." Solo looked over and saw that Leia had snuck in to join him in the back. She held up a finger before he could say anything. "I'm not supposed to be in here. I got out after the nurses left." He scooted over, making room for her to lean against the wall in the rear alcove as Dodonna fired up a large holographic display.

"I'm afraid that it looks like the Empire may finally have found evidence of our presence here. Thanks to Lieutenant Skywalker, they likely don't have information on the significance of our local operations, but we can expect that they will send a more significant scouting force as soon as possible. Thus, we've unfortunately decided we have no option but to evacuate Yavin base."

A murmur went up through the crowd. Many of the rebels had called Yavin home since they defected to the Alliance, and the prospect of leaving their fortress was disheartening. Dodonna held up his hands for quiet.

"I know this base has served us well for a long time, but it was never intended to be permanent. Now General Rieekan will brief you on evacuation procedures." He gestured for Rieekan to join him.

"Our goal is to get out before any significant Imperial forces arrive," Rieekan told them somberly. "We'll break into three groups based on designation. Everyone with designation essential will stay until the base is cleared. The non-essential group—and please don't take that personally, it's just for battle situations—leaves immediately. Our goal is to get the intermediate group out in the next six hours. We've drilled this, everyone—you know your roles. Intermediate group, your most critical task is wiping and destroying any computer terminals we can't bring with us. Non-essentials, get to your ships. I want you all packed and on board in 20 minutes. Any questions?"

There were none.

"Dismissed," Dodonna said. As the room emptied, Rieekan spotted Solo, Chewbacca, and Leia in the back and strode briskly over to join them.

"What are you doing up?" he asked Leia sternly. She didn't respond, and Rieekan saw in spite of the shadows that the blood had drained from her face.

"Was it me?" she asked shakily. "Am I why the Empire found us?"

"No!" He pulled her into a quick embrace. "It was a probe droid, Princess. They've had them out around the galaxy looking for us for months. It's just a coincidence." He held her at arms' length and looked into her eyes. "I promise we'll get you out before they arrive. They won't find you." He turned to Solo. "I want her on the Rebel One: they are going to be the first to leave. Can you make sure she gets on board? Then you should head out yourself." Extending a hand, he said, "You've been a great help to the Alliance, Captain. If you ever reconsider joining up, we'd be glad to have you."

"Thanks, General. I'll make sure she gets to her ship." Rieekan nodded and hurried off to supervise the preparations.

Solo gave Leia a long look, considered taking her arm and then opted against that when he saw her glaring at him.

"I'm fully capable of taking care of myself, thank you," she said icily. "I did manage to survive in the forest without male supervision."

"Hey, I'm just followin' orders," Solo responded, turning on his heel and starting off towards the main hangar. "C'mon, let's get to that ship."

"Wait!" She scurried along to catch him. "I still have some of my stuff on the Falcon."

"What stuff?"

"My stuff." She stopped dead in her tracks. "I need it."

Solo sighed audibly. "Okay. But you heard the General. We only have twenty minutes."

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"We have thousands of probe droids searching the galaxy! I want proof, not leads."

Captain Piett pursed his lips, contemplating his response to Admiral Ozzel. To be fair, he agreed that the spotting of a single Incom-corporation produced scout ship was not definitive proof of Rebel presence. But the regression analysis he had his techs run before his report to the Admiral showed that there was an 82.4 percent correlation between the locations of the most recent hit-and-fade Rebel attacks on Imperial installations and the path to the Yavin system when one assumed a minimum of three hyperspace jumps.

"Yes, Admiral," he said finally, "But we do have additional information that leads me to believe…"

"I am uninterested in your beliefs, Captain. We will send two scout wings to see if there is any additional evidence of rebels. I do not intend to waste the Emperor's fleet in chasing…"

"What did you find?" Piett managed to keep his startled jerk to a minimum as Darth Vader strode onto the bridge.

"Milord, a probe droid was shot down by a scout ship that is regularly used by Rebel forces. I've ordered an analysis, and there is evidence that the Rebel base may be on the fourth planet of the Yavin system."

Vader turned to look out the viewport, contemplating. He had little faith in the probe droids, preferring to spend his time using the Force to try to narrow down the location of the Rebel's hidden base. Though, as he was sure the Emperor suspected, his interest was hardly focused on the Rebels anymore.

The old man's revelation that the pilot who destroyed the Death Star was named Skywalker and was the age his child would have been had Padme survived rattled him. For nearly twenty years, he'd buried his memory of the pure joy he felt the day his beloved wife told him that they were expecting a child. During her pregnancy, he dreamed of fatherhood: not only training the child in the ways of the Force, but more quotidian pursuits. Fishing in the lake region of Naboo. Learning to ride a hoverbike. Perhaps, if Padme would allow it, even a bit of well-supervised pod racing.

When Palpatine told him that he had killed her and his child, his last link to a meaningful future crumbled into ash. There was nothing left but service to Palpatine and the Dark Side, and revenge against the Jedi who had driven him to such unthinkable destruction. But given that, why would Palpatine give him such hope back now? Could it signify trust in Vader's loyalty? He doubted that. The Emperor's accusations of Vader's complicity in the Death Star's weapons failure and his subsequent exile made clear that he remained under suspicion.

Then it struck him. He could never keep secrets from the Emperor, and the old man must have sensed that Vader had identified an apprentice and now thought that ostensible student was Luke. Naming the boy and sending Vader after him was not a gift but a threat that Palpatine saw through the Dark Lord's duplicity. Ironic, thought Vader, that I had believed my possible apprentice was dead and now Palpatine has given me a new one. It doesn't matter what that Sith can foresee: I will find my son and together we will defeat him.

He turned back to Ozzel and Piett, who stood at attention while Vader mused. Yavin, he thought, and suddenly the sense of a bright presence, stronger than any he had ever felt, caught his attention. "That's it. The Rebels are there. Set your course for the Yavin system."

"Milord, we are deploying scouts as we speak," protested Ozzel. "I hardly think it's worth deploying our fleet…" He stopped as Vader raised a hand, cutting off his words at his throat.

"I said set your course."


	20. Chapter 20

The main hangar was organized chaos as Solo and Chewie led Leia back to the Falcon. Mechanics hurried around, fueling fighters and loading supplies onto the larger cruisers. Pilots suited up, huddling in small groups for briefings from the squad commanders. Stepping nimbly around a pile of scrap that had once comprised a computer terminal, Solo punched in the lock codes to lower his ship's boarding ramp.

"After you," he said, with an exaggerated bow to the princess. "Make it quick."

She stepped on board and headed straight for the bunk room, opening a small cupboard that had survived her earlier rampage and pulling out a knapsack. She peeked inside and then pulled it shut, satisfied.

"Okay, captain, I'm good. Are you sure you don't want to take me to Alderaan?"

"No."

"Well, thanks anyway," she said thoughtfully, looking around the cabin. "For everything. I mean that."

"I'm glad I was able to help. You take care of yourself, okay?"

"Yeah." Her eyes narrowed as they walked together off the ship. "I'll be fine."

Remembering his promise to Rieekan, Solo insisted on escorting Leia over to Rebel One, leaving Chewbacca to begin pre-flight procedures in the cockpit. Realizing neither of them had any idea which of the large cruisers was their destination, Solo tapped on the shoulder of a pilot standing with his back to them, surveying the scene.

"Luke!" Leia exclaimed as he turned, giving him a tight hug around the bulky flight gear. Then her face darkened. "You told me you were going to come back and see me as soon as your mission was complete."

"I'm sorry, Leia," he responded defensively, surprised at her vehemence. "I wasn't expecting to shoot down an enemy probe."

"When are you leaving?" she asked, softening again.

"I'm in the essential group. I'm flying cover for the transports and then we stick around to assure anything sensitive has been destroyed."

"Do you have to wait that long? What if the Empire shows up before you get away?"

"I'll be okay," he reassured her. "I've dealt with the Empire before."

"Not without help."

"I've got help. Rogue Squadron is the best." He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "Leia, I promise I'll be okay. But it's nice to be worried about."

"You watch your back, Kid, you hear?" Solo added. "I'm taking this one to Rebel One. You know which ship that is?"

Luke pointed at one of the large cruisers, already rumbling as its engines warmed up. Solo gently began to guide Leia towards her transport, and then stopped as she broke free and dashed back to the pilot.

"What's your call sign?" she asked him.

"Rogue Five, why?"

"Good luck, Rogue Five." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Okay, sweetheart, time to go." Solo pointed at the line of Rebels, ranging from humans to Bothans and even another Wookiee, who were filing onto the ship. Looking down, it struck him that she was still wearing the long hospital gown and slippers. "Once you're on board, you should probably see if they have any real clothes for you to wear. You like an escapee from the psych ward." The words were out before he could catch himself. "Sorry."

To his relief, she merely chuckled. "I suppose that's mostly accurate." She stepped into the line behind a tall pair of Mon Calamaris. "I'll be okay. You should get out of here."

"Okay. Hang in there and stay safe, Princess."

"I will."

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Stopping to help load a set of crates into the cargo area of one of the light cruisers, Solo stiffened when he heard a voice behind him.

"Captain Solo! It's so good to see you again. Although the circumstances are less than ideal."

He searched his brain to try to remember a designation, and couldn't. He'd blocked it out. So, refusing to turn around, he muttered over his shoulder, "Hi, Goldenrod."

His passenger compartment had been full enough as they fled Alderaan that Solo was successfully able to convince Luke to stow his annoying droid in the back hold. After learning he'd originally belonged to the Organas, Solo unsuccessfully tried to convince them to take him along when they returned home. They insisted that the protocol droid would be of far more use to the Alliance. The droid was the first thing offloaded when they'd arrived to the Yavin base, and, having little use for droids generally, Solo hoped that would be the end of the budding relationship. No such luck.

"I was informed that you located the princess and that she is still fully functional," the droid continued. C-3P0, that was his designation, Solo remembered. "Their highnesses will be delighted! If they themselves are still alive of course….oh dear."

Solo was saved from further conversation when one of the deck officers bellowed for assistance from the gleaming droid. He slipped the last crate into the cavity under the ship and walked briskly back to the Falcon.

Chewie growled at him as Solo entered the cockpit.

"I wasn't ignoring you, I just got here, you big furball." Harrumphing, Chewie pointed at the controls. "Yes, I double checked the hyperdrive last night. We should be fine. Let's get out of here before things get ugly."

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Against his better judgment, Vader allowed Ozzel to plan the initial entry and possible assault on the Rebel base. The admiral was not known for his strategic skills, but Vader needed to devise a reason to personally join a ground assault. An aerial bombardment would certainly take out any base of operations that the Rebels concealed on Yavin IV, but would get Vader no closer to locating and capturing Luke Skywalker. Ironically, that meant that allowing Ozzel to make a mess of the attack was likely the ideal scenario…at least for Vader.

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Solo waited for Rebel One to clear the atmosphere, flanked by four X wings as it rose above the cloud layer and broke for the nearest safe hyperspace jump point. The Yavin-based fleet was splitting up, joining various counterparts around the galaxy until they identified a new main base. Since he was parting ways, Solo hadn't been given any of the details of the Rebels' destinations—both for their protection and for his.

"Rebel One is away." He heard the general announcement over the comm. Then there were three bleeps. Emergency transmission.

"This is Alpha One. Imperial ships have entered the Yavin system. Standby for report."

"Strap in" Solo said tersely to his partner. "We're getting out of here." He looked out the hangar door where Rebel One had just made its exit, glad that Leia had gotten out of the system before the Imperials arrived. That stress was the last thing she needed.

"This is Alpha One," the comm crackled again with Dodonna's voice. "We've got four Imperial II's, one Victory class, and one unidentified class of Star Destroyer."

Solo looked over at Chewie. "I guess they've been found." He lifted the Falcon and drifted towards the hangar door as pilots raced through the space, abandoning non-essential supplies as they hopped into their ships. As the Falcon passed through the massive door, Solo gave it a burst of speed, skimming the treetops as Chewie frantically activated their onboard scanner to give them the locations of the Imperial force.

As it turned out, they hardly needed the scanner. From the ground, the massive Star Destroyers loomed over them casting fang shaped shadows on the white clouds below. Further out in space, Solo could see an additional silhouette that he assumed was the unidentified class of Destroyer that Dodonna had mentioned. Even from this distance, he could tell it was enormous: bigger than any capital ship he'd ever seen. He let out a low whistle.

"Let's see if we can get the planet between us and them before we make our jump," he said, gently tilting the freighter as they avoided one of the few mountains poking out of Yavin's surface. "Set course for Merson, then on to Nar Shadda." Checking the scanner, he added, "And get back in the gun turret. Those things are deploying TIEs."

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"Rogues, form up." Wedge pulled upwards from the planet's surface, leading the squadron of X-wings to a point that blocked access to the main hangar entry. "We've got to assume those Star Destroyers are going to start a bombardment any minute here. Our job is to keep the TIEs back away from the transports so they can head to the far side of the planet and make a break for hyperspace. Green and Blue squadrons will escort. Got it?"

"Copy that," they each responded.

Luke looked over at Wes Janson, his wingmate. "You ready for this?"

"Hell yeah."

"Here they come!" shouted Wedge.

The first wave of TIEs headed straight for the hangar door, giving the Rogues ample opportunity to tail them and pick them off as they attempted to bomb the next departing transport. The armed transports were able to inflict casualties of their own, and held off two TIE bombers as the Rogues scattered for another defensive maneuver. The transport zoomed towards its original departure point, appearing to charge the Star Destroyers, before executing a 270 degree turn and speeding away to the safety of the far side of the planet.

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Vader had expected Ozzel to screw up, but this was ridiculous.

"You fool!" he shouted, striding up to the Admiral, "You're only covering one of their escape windows."

Ozzel smiled as if he knew a secret. "Shall we begin the bombardment? I think that will make the escape windows a moot point."

"And will destroy any information about the size of the Rebellion's presence here, as well as any clues we have to their leaders' whereabouts," Vader growled. And might kill my son, he added silently. He looked over at Piett, who was watching the exchange silently. "Tell General Veers to prepare for a surface attack."

"Milord," Ozzel began patronizingly, "You said you believe this to be the Rebel headquarters. It seems that the gains from bombing it to the ground outweigh any…" He stopped, his hands going to his throat.

"You have failed me for the last time." Transfixed by the image of the man being inexplicably strangled in front of him, Piett merely nodded as Vader stalked past him, saying, "Deploy the fleet so that nothing else gets off the system. You are in command now, Admiral Piett."

As the Dark Lord left the bridge, Piett recovered himself. "Set up an interdiction ring," he ordered. "Move the destroyers to sectors 2, 5, 6, 9, and 12. Executor will cover sector 1 above the Rebel base. Focus the fighter wings on taking out their fighter capabilities. I want them pinned down, now."

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Solo cursed aloud as the Falcon rose from under the cloud cover on the far side of the planet from the Yavin base to find that the Star Destroyers had figured out the Rebel's escape path and reconfigured their formation to block the ships from jumping. A large Rebel transport had discovered the same problem. From the Falcon, they could see the Y-wing escorts swarmed with TIEs as bombers swooped in to aim at the transport's engines. Smoke rose as the interior lights of the ship began to blink out.

"Chewie!" he called back to the gun turret. "Heads up. TIE fighters incoming." He tuned his communications system back to the Alliance frequency and punched in the descrambler code to listen in.

"Deploy Green Squadron to the south side of the base," he heard Rieekan shouting. "Rogue Squadron, report in!"

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Luke had sat through a lot of lectures on strategy since his successful attack on the Death Star, only some of which seemed marginally useful. As he zoomed through the air after a stray TIE bomber though, Janson shooting a fighter off his tail, he suddenly remembered one thing that had been repeated ad nauseum: defense is a lot harder than offense.

"Guess they were right about that," he muttered as he followed yet another TIE into the upper atmosphere. The constant swooping between planetside and space was starting to stress his hull, and he made a mental note to have Artoo run a post-flight diagnostic…if he survived. Each time he swept back towards the main base, he was disheartened to see that the Imperials had been successful in pinning the remaining transports inside the safety of the old Massassi temple. At this rate they'd never get out.

Spotting Wedge, he gave a quick thumbs up as he blasted another fighter. "I wonder why those Destroyers haven't opened fire?" he murmured.

"Cut the comm chatter, folks," Wedge interrupted. "Let's just take our luck where we can get it for now. Rogue Five, Rogue Seven, follow me. We're going to clear some space for that transport."

"Copy that, Rogue Leader!"

Switching to torpedoes, Luke blasted away two TIE bombers that were harassing the defenses in front of the hangar entrance. On cue, the transport burst out, following three Y-wings that kept up steady fire as they made for a clear spot in the space around the planet.

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General Veers had made his career as the designer and chief authority on the use of All Terrain Attack Transports, and so it was with some frustration that he opted to deploy only the smaller All Terrain Scout Transports during the initial ground assault on the Yavin base. In spite of their name, AT-ATs had some weaknesses, and an inability to operate efficiently in large forested areas was one of them. They certainly could take out the trees surrounding the base, but that would cost time. Lord Vader had insisted that they needed troops on the ground to capture any remaining rebels and valuable information, and Veers was not one to let ego get in the way of success. He ordered the troops onto landing crafts with enough of the smaller walkers to cover the perimeter of the base.

"I'll be joining you." As the stormtroopers filed onto the landers, Lord Vader walked up next to Veers. He stood with him for a moment, reviewing the troops, and then wordlessly stepped onto the shuttle and made his way to the cockpit. Veers' lieutenant looked at him, bewildered, but Veers merely shrugged. "I don't question those of higher rank," he said, with a touch of warning in his voice.

TIE Interceptors escorted the landing craft down towards the base, slowing to blast away trees and form a clearing for the troopers to disembark. A second craft landed on the temple grounds, blocking the south entrance as troopers poured out and began firing as they burst into the base.

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"Imperial troops have entered the base! Imperial troops have…." The voice was cut off midsentence, and Solo gulped. He didn't know how the Rebels were going to get out of this one. He hoped the Kid was all right….

"What's going on?"

Traditional Corellian theology recognizes one higher being with four demigods ruling the elements of creation. Thankfully for Han Solo, he was not religious and thus did not subscribe to the belief that shouting the names of the demigods in vain would damn him to the nine hells for all eternity.

"I swear if you do that again I really am going to shoot you. What is it with you and sneaking up on people?"

Leia plopped down into the copilot's chair. "You weren't going to let me come along. I had to sneak onboard."

"Your highness! Your highness!" His jaw dropping, Solo turned to see the golden droid tottering into the cockpit after her.

"You didn't…." he said reproachfully.

"He's my droid," Leia told him. "And he has all the codes I need for getting through the secure doors in the palace."

"What palace? What are you talking about? And let's get back to why you aren't on Rebel One?"

"Because I'm going to Alderaan," she hissed. "And this ship is the only one that can get me there right now." She reached around to hit Threepio's power switch. "There. Better?"

"Marginally." He couldn't take this right now. Outside there was a pitched battle, and he was on the losing side. Demanding princesses who couldn't do as they were told would have to wait. "You may have noticed we've got ourselves a bit of a situation out here."

Looking down at the scanner readout, Leia blanched. "I couldn't hear what was going on in the back," she said, "I didn't realize…"

"That Rieekan had a reason for getting you the hell out of here? Well, he did. Now, can you shoot?" She nodded. "Then get your butt in the right turret and see if you can help us get past these TIEs." The comm sputtered again, and he heard Rieekan's voice come through. "All units, head for sector eleven." A multi-toned signal chimed, his descrambler showing that it was the full evacuation code.

"Alpha Two, this is Rogue Leader. I'm pinned in with Rogue Five. Go ahead without us."

Heading for the gun turret, Leia stopped short. "Luke," she said, her mouth dry.

"Sweetheart, we don't know where he is. The Rogues will be okay."

"No!" Heading back to the cockpit, Leia traced her finger across the map of the planet's surface displayed on the console. "There." She pointed at a spot only a few klicks from the main base. "Please, we have to help him."

"We'll get pulverized….or captured." He knew it was cruel to tell her that, but logic clearly wasn't winning the day. "We might just be putting him in more danger."

"Han." Her eyes were wide, but he saw a hint of the look that he'd learned to fear in the last several days. "We can't leave him." Without waiting for a response, she dove at him, knocking his hands off the controls. The ship plummeted, and Chewie howled in protest from the back. Before Solo could right himself, Leia grabbed the controls and spun the Falcon around, zooming back towards the temple.

"Fine." Han got himself back into his seat and took the controls over the top of Leia's hands. "We'll go find Luke." Satisfied, she relinquished her position and settled back into the ridiculously outsized copilot seat. "But if anything happens, you're the one explaining to General Rieekan how you got here."

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From his X-wing, Luke could only watch in horror as more and more Imperial troops filed into the temple. He took a few potshots at the assembled stormtroopers, leaving piled of charred armor, before more TIE Interceptors arrived and pushed the remaining Rogues into a valley lined with the ubiquitous tall trees.

"I'm hit!" Wedge had a frantic edge to his voice as his ship shuddered and then righted itself. "Dammit!"

"Pull up!" called Luke, drawing two interceptors away from his friend. "I'll hold them off."

One of the interceptors saw Wedge maneuver upward and gave chase, forcing Luke to abandon his own defense and shoot down the pursuer. "Gotcha!" With a burst of power, Wedge's X-wing zipped away.

"Kriff!" Losing his focus for a moment, Luke cursed as Artoo squealed under the bombardment from the Interceptor. Another blast slammed directly into one of his engines, sending Luke into a tailspin. The Interceptor peeled away, presuming it had gotten its kill.

In an instant, Luke felt a peaceful wave wash over him, as if he were floating in a warm sea. Below, the river washing by slowed to a stop, and the sensation of life around him glowed. The starship, plummeting towards the ground, seemed no heavier than a feather as Luke felt the Force wrapping around him, gliding him down to the ground where he smashed hard enough to send up a single plume of smoke into the sky.

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The attempts to capture the remaining Rebels had not been successful. Vader strode purposefully into the base, leading a handpicked group of stormtroopers from the 501st legion. The main hangar was empty of sentient life; a few droids, bashed beyond all recognition, were scattered across the room. The Rebels had been thorough in their destruction of computer terminals, and Vader could hear Veers' order over the clanking of armor to spread out and find any clues to the Rebels' next destination.

In the next room over, the stormtroopers had startled a group of Rebel technicians who were hiding in a closet, disconnecting and destroying wiring. The resulting firefight had been one sided, though two stormtroopers were killed when the last remaining Rebel pulled out a grenade and ran into the middle of their ranks. Then they heard a shout over the comm.

Crossing the hangar again, Vader entered the flight control room. Most of the equipment was destroyed, but the troopers held two men in Rebel uniforms tightly, blasters to their heads. Vader recognized one of them immediately.

"Carlist Rieekan, yes? Of Alderaan if I remember correctly." Staring stonily at the Dark Lord, Rieekan said nothing. "And who is your assistant?"

"My name is Kellin Damar, you disgusting bastard," the young lieutenant shouted before Rieekan could warn him away from speaking. "You killed my family. I saw you…" Certain that the young man was not his missing son, Vader grew bored of the tirade and choked off the boy's words. The trooper holding him dropped Kellin as he fell lifeless to the stone floor.

"Take him to my ship," Vader ordered. "I'm sure he had additional information that the Emperor will find useful." Two stormtroopers hustled Rieekan away, leaving Kellin's body behind as they continued their search through the temple.

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Head aching from exertion and from the crash, Luke popped his fighter and climbed out. One wing had broken off, landing several yards behind him as he hit the ground. The engine, pulverized by the laser blasts from the TIE, smoked. Suddenly worried about a possible explosion, Luke hopped up to free Artoo, grateful that the little astromech had enough equipment to get himself the rest of the way down.

"Ugh," he said aloud, collapsing against a tree as they made their way away from the wreck. "I don't feel so hot, Artoo." Looking up, could see the lights of the Star Destroyers high above, but was grateful that the dogfight had broken up, though unfortunately because most of the Rebel craft had been destroyed or driven away.

Leaning back, he breathed in the hot, moist air. He wasn't far from the temple, but it was overrun with Imperial soldiers. Hopefully most of the personnel had escaped. Thinking of Leia, he wondered if it was now his turn to be stuck living on his own in the woods, evading Imperials. At least he had his droid.

"Luke!" The man's voice startled him, and he drew his blaster as he looked around the thick woods.

"Who's there?"

"Luke." The air in front of him shimmered, then became more opaque as a vision resolved itself in front of him.

"Ben!" It couldn't be. Ben was dead, his body obliterated when his ship crashed on Endor. But still…

"Luke, you must go to the Dagobah system. There you will find Yoda, the Jedi Master who instructed me."

"Ben? Ben!" Artoo squealed at Luke as he shouted towards the rapidly vanishing apparition. "Ben!"

A whoosh of air above him caught his attention, and he looked up to see a ship hovering above him. Not far in the distance, four TIE fighters had also spotted it and were racing to engage. The ship dipped down lower, and the bottom hatch opened.

"Luke!"

"Leia? What are you doing here?"

"There's no time. Grab on!" A flexible ladder dropped down, hovering about ten feet above his head. Leia poked her head back in. "Can you get any lower?" she called to Han.

The ship shifted, tipping one side towards the ground.

"Tell him to hurry up, sweetheart," Solo growled. "We've got company."

"Secure the ladder to something!" Luke called, grabbing a cable off his utility belt. He used the magnetic end to attach it to one of Artoo's arms, and then looped the other end around the ladder. Hopping up on the lower rung, he waved. "Go ahead and pull us in."

"There's no pulley!" Leia shouted at him. "You have to climb!" She screamed as a TIE fighter shrieked overhead, letting loose a volley of shots that burst against the Falcon's shields.

Luke raced up the ladder, glancing briefly back at where Artoo dangled in the lower branches. He pulled himself in through the hatch.

"Help me," he told the princess as he began to yank the rope up. She grabbed a side and pulled, grunting with exertion as Artoo inched upwards.

"Uh oh." Looking past Artoo into the forest, Luke noticed that a company of stormtroopers, augmented by two AT-STs, was headed straight for them. "Leia, pull harder!" There was no response. He saw that she had spotted the troopers as well, and her breathing quickened as she noticed the dark figure that accompanied them.

Suddenly she yanked the ladder with a jerk that sent Artoo flying through the hatch. Panting, she leaned down to close cover. At that moment, her eyes locked onto the mask below, her own reflection visible in the shining black metal.


	21. Chapter 21

Leia fell back onto the floor of the ship, eyes wide as she shook her head. "No, no, no…"

In an instant Luke was next to her, arms around her shoulders. "Leia, it's okay. We made it." Already Solo was speeding away, heading for the southern hemisphere of the planet.

"He's supposed to be dead."

"Who?" Luke hugged the trembling princess tightly.

"Vader. He was down there. I saw him."

Luke frowned. "We knew he survived the attack on the Death Star. I'm sorry, Leia- I didn't realize that you didn't know." He started to help her to her feet. "He won't catch up with us, I promise."

She took a step back, biting her lips. "You don't know what he's capable of."

"I think I do. He killed my father."

"I'm sorry." She should have anticipated that. Han told her that the young man believed himself to be the son of a Jedi, and her father had shared the true history of Vader's slaughter of the knights that the Emperor had twisted into a tale of treachery and heroics by the Empire's finest.

"Hey, kids, hate to break up the party but we're not out of the woods yet," Solo bellowed back at them. "Sure be helpful if you could lend a hand in the turrets."

Splitting up, Luke and Leia each slipped into a gun turret and threw on the headsets connecting them with the cockpit. Chewbacca had jumped up when Luke arrived, ceding his seat and dashing back up to join the captain.

"TIEs at eleven o'clock!" Solo shouted. Leia saw the fighters swooping out of the sky and aimed her gun, holding down on the trigger so a steady stream of laser blasts hammered the unshielded fighters. One burst under her onslaught, the exploding shrapnel forcing its wingmate to swing back briefly. Solo took the opportunity to angle the freighter around, hammering the TIE with the forward lasers and sending it plummeting in pieces to the forest below.

Two bombers dove in above them, and the proximity alarm in the cockpit screamed, warning Solo and Chewbacca of a lock. "Get those bombers now!" he shouted, juking up to throw off their targeting computers. Luke swung his gun around, aiming for the more vulnerable wings. He knocked one back, and Chewbacca followed up with a torpedo blast that left little but dust as it hit its mark square on.

"Hold on, kids!" Solo shouted. Luke, who had experienced his piloting antics before, double checked his crash webbing as the Falcon flipped into a vertical climb, then looped back around to barrel up behind their remaining three pursuers. Following him upwards, the TIEs fired a barrage of laser blasts after the freighter. As Solo dove back into the atmosphere, one TIE followed directly, the pilot realizing his mistake as the fighter was blown back upwards by the force of the jetwash created as the Falcon shoved billions of molecules of nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide out of the way while it accelerated its downward trajectory. The other two pilots held back, giving Solo ample time to ambush them from behind.

"Now we see what this baby's got in her," Solo said, checking the scanner readout to verify the locations of the Star Destroyers. Directly above them, the Victory class destroyed hovered in a geosynchronous orbit. Hatching a plan, Solo set a course directly for the capital ship.

Luke and Leia stumbled into the cockpit, both flushed with adrenaline.

"What are you doing?" Leia demanded as she saw the Star Destroyer growing larger in the forward viewport. "We're supposed to be getting away!"

"They've got the whole planet surrounded, sweetheart," Solo told her tensely. "Trust me, I've got an idea."

Leia slumped back into one of the passenger seats. "Great."

Solo sped up as they drew closer to the large ship, zipping back and forth and hoping this wouldn't be the moment that the Imperials decided to open up with their turbolasers. He had shifted his shields forward, but that would leave the rear flank open to laser fire if he had to retreat back to the planet.

An old smuggler with whom he and Chewbacca had spent a convivial evening in a bar on Carratos had described the Victories as being like a bugfish, a type of small freshwater crustacean common in the swamp regions of Corellia that was prized for its culinary value, provided one knew how to catch them without falling victim to the creatures strong, sharp claws. The trick was to know exactly where to grab their backs. Similarly, the old man had said, there was a spot on that particular design of Star Destroyer that was covered by neither turbolasers nor tractor beams.

Of course, thought Solo, as he continued his charge, the trick was what do after you found the sweet spot. They could hardly spend the rest of their days hovering in the ship's blind spot. That was where the TIEs came in.

Solo's luck held, and he glided the Falcon along the Destroyer's flank. He could see the deployed tractor beam extending towards them, and heard Leia whimper slightly. "It's okay, they can't reach us here," he reassured her. "Now we just need them to send out the TIEs."

On cue, a bay opened and a full squadron of TIEs spilled out. In a flash, Solo reconfigured the shields for full coverage, draining power from the quad lasers, and dove straight into the middle of the melee. The TIEs opened fire.

Luke unbuckled himself, planning to head for the gun turret, but Solo shouted for him to sit back down. The ship rocked under the heavy fire as Solo watched the TIE formation carefully, occasionally shifting position to keep them between him and the nearby Star Destroyer as he sped for space.

Seeing their ruse, the Star Destroyer reactivated the tractor beam, but only managed to catch two of their own fighters before they turned it off and looked to the TIEs to continue the pursuit.

"Okay, c'mon baby, let's do this." Solo quickly plugged in some coordinates and pulled nervously back on the lever. True, he was afraid of being captured by the Empire, but the stony look on Leia's face suggested that his trouble would begin long before they were boarded by stormtroopers if this didn't work.

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"Lord Vader is not going to be happy about that, Captain."

Lorth Needa continued to look out the viewport in the bridge, staring at the empty space where the light freighter had just made its jump to lightspeed. His lieutenant had a reputation for being overly frank with his superiors, but Needa didn't have the heart to scold him at the moment. Not twenty minutes previous, all the ships in the fleet had received a communication from the Dark Lord telling them to watch specifically for a YT-1300 light freighter and to take all necessary means to capture it and its occupants.

"Track its trajectory," he ordered. "Send any information you have over to Executor."

"Yes, sir." The lieutenant scuttled off, and Needa contemplated his next move. The battle with the rebels continued below them, though the Empire had moved into a cleanup phase. A few fighters still harassed the TIE squadrons as they made for deep space, but the vast majority of the remaining Rebel vessels were either destroyed or disabled. Reports of man-to-man combat as troopers boarded the disabled ships or made their way through the enormous compound flickered over the comms system. Vader, he knew, had joined the surface attack with General Veers.

"Sir!" A second lieutenant came running up to him. "Admiral Piett wishes to speak to you."

Needa winced. Admiral Piett? That must mean something had happened to Ozzel. The animosity between those two men was familiar to much of the Imperial command structure, and Needa has thrown in his lot with Ozzel several years previous. He couldn't imagine that Piett would stand up for him against Lord Vader.

"Admiral," he said into the comm, trying to keep his voice obsequious without being patronizing. "Congratulations on your promotion."

"Your ship transmitted hyperspace trajectories here a moment ago without details," Piett said brusquely.

"Yes, sir," Needa said. "The YT-1300 freighter that Lord Vader identified as a prime target evaded us and jumped to lightspeed. We tracked their trajectories so that the fleet can pursue them as necessary."

"You lost the ship?"

"Yes, sir."

"I think," said Piett slowly, "That you should give your report to Lord Vader personally. I will inform you when he returns to the Executor and you can join us then."

"Yes, sir." Needa gulped. He knew Piett desperately wanted to get rid of him, and he had handed him the perfect opportunity. He turned to his lieutenant. "Prepare my shuttle."

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"Yeeaw!" Solo couldn't help but shout in victory as the Falcon accelerated into hyperspace. Not that he had been worried….

"I can't believe you pulled that off," Luke said incredulously. They both turned to look at Leia, who had been uncharacteristically silent. She was slumped over in her seat, her head falling limply.

"Kriff!" Solo jumped up and gently slapped Leia's cheek. "I didn't mean to scare her that bad." He ran his hand along the scar on her neck, feeling for a pulse. It was steady. "I think she's okay."

"I guess we should let her rest, then," Luke said, unbuckling her crash webbing and gingerly lifting her out of the seat. He stepped towards the cockpit door and accidentally bumped her foot against the frame.

With a bloodcurdling scream, Leia awoke. Luke fell back into the cockpit, nearly banging his head against the seat as an unseen hand shoved him backwards. Leia scrambled away, looking around wildly.

"Whoa, calm down, sweetheart." Solo stood and walked towards her slowly, as though approaching a wild animal. Leia squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and then stared at the captain.

"Han? Where am I?"

"You're on my ship, remember? We made the jump to hyperspace. You passed out."

Leia let her head fall back against the wall, relishing the cool solidness of the metal against her skin. "I thought we were going to be captured."

Solo turned to Luke, who was dragging himself up off the floor. "You okay, Kid?"

"Yeah," he replied, watching Leia. "So that was what you warned me about?"

"That was nothing, Kid. I saw her throw Chewbacca three or four meters."

"You know," Leia interrupted, "I'm still here."

"Sorry." Luke rubbed his head. "Where did you learn to use the Force, anyways?"

"I don't know how to use the Force," Leia told him, confused. "Is that what that is….the Force?"

"Definitely. I could feel it. But it felt different than what Ben taught me….did someone teach you?"

Leia shook her head, and Luke thought back to something the old Jedi had told him right before they left for Endor.

"You must always be aware of your intentions, Luke," Ben had said somberly. "Anger, fear, aggression- these lead to the Dark Side of the Force. The Dark Side is at its most potent when you allow your emotions to take control. Stay wary, Luke. The path to the Dark Side is not always obvious, nor is a fall to the Dark Side always immediately clear. But once you start down that path, it can haunt your soul forever."

"Han," Luke said, "Can you take us to the Dagobah system?"

"The what system? Never heard of it. Why do you want to go there?"

"There's supposed to be a Jedi master there. I think he can help us."

"You can go where ever you want after you drop me off on Alderaan," Leia announced, crossing her arms.

"Leia, you have to come to Dagobah with me," Luke insisted. "I think you have the power of the Force too, but…"

"But what?"

"I think you may be using the Dark Side." He saw her eyes flash, and quickly continued. "I don't think you mean to, but if you've never had any training….well, it's dangerous, Leia."

"It doesn't matter," she said tersely. "I'm not going anywhere but Alderaan."

"You have to!" Luke's voice rose with frustration. "Do you want to turn out like Vader?"

Leia was in his face in a flash. "What did you just say about me?" she asked, her voice dangerously quiet.

"I didn't say you are like Vader," Luke back peddled. "It's just, the Dark Side, it's sneaky and it feeds on fear. I wish I knew more, but that's why you have to come with me."

"We. Are. Going. To. Alderaan." Leia straightened her shoulders and stared at Luke.

"Hey, break it up." Solo stepped between the two of them. "It's my ship, and as I recall I didn't invite you" he pointed to Leia "on board, and I wasn't expecting you" he pointed to Luke, "as a passenger. So, we are going to Nar Shadda and we'll sort things out there."

"Nar Shadda?" Leia was indignant. "You expect me to set foot on Nar Shadda? If my parents ever found out that you were taking me against my will to that disgusting planet, I'd be concerned for your safety, Captain."

"Look, your Highnessness," Solo said, resenting the imperious tone that Leia had been using more and more since her rescue, "Perhaps you'd like it better back on Endor?"

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She's alive.

There were few things that could distract Darth Vader from his hunt for his son, but the sight of the dark haired girl with the unmistakable red scar trailing up her neck was one of them. He should have known she would find a way to survive the Death Star: she was too wily to allow something like an enormous explosion to do her in. Suddenly it struck him: the friendly fire from the TIE fighter that had knocked him away just as his son made his final run into the trench. Somehow, she had stolen a TIE fighter. Rather than angry, he found himself bemused by her tenacity. She'll make a fine apprentice yet.

Now he had to deal with the question of what to do with his son. He still wanted the boy at his side when he took the throne from Palpatine. It was his birthright. But naturally there would be a rivalry, and likely a deadly one, if he tried to train two apprentices simultaneously.

The advantage with choosing Leia was that Palpatine had never suspected the girl had any powers in the Force, and that-like Vader himself had until today—he believed she was dead, perished in the Death Star. Her conversion to his apprentice would be difficult though, considering the animosity of their relationship. It would take a serious effort to tame her into obeying him, rather than plotting to destroy him along with the Emperor.

His son, on the other hand, might be more easily swayed to join his father's side. But Palpatine knew about the boy and his potential, and would watch their every move. The Emperor might even try to convince Luke to slaughter his own father and take Vader's place at Palpatine's side.

Before he could ponder the answer any longer, a bell chimed, indicating a visitor to his private chambers on board the Executor. "Enter," he called.

Newly-minted Admiral Piett and Captain Needa entered, each bowing as they crossed the threshold into the Dark Lord's chamber.

"Report."

"Milord," Captain Needa started, a slight tremor in his voice, "I regret to say that the freighter you identified as a prime target made it past our blockade and escaped to hyperspace. We tracked its trajectory and are analyzing possible destinations."

Vader turned to stare at him. "What means did you use to capture it?"

"We deployed all our tractor beams," Needa told him. "Unfortunately they located our blind spot, and so I deployed TIE fighters to disable them. They were able to sustain their shields under heavy fire and flee."

"I instructed all units to bring me the occupants of that ship alive, Captain," Vader said, his anger growing. Heavy fire? Unbidden, a vision of Leia suffocating as the ship's hull opened to vacuum flooded his mind.

"Milord, I specifically instructed the fighters to simply disable the ship, not destroy it," Needa protested. Piett looked askance at him. That tidbit wasn't in the briefing the Captain's lieutenant provided. He made a mental note to mention this to Vader later, but it was unnecessary. Needa began to cough, his hands flying to his throat.

"Lying to me is a poor career move, Captain." The body collapsed with a thump on the ground, and Vader pushed him out of the room with his foot, gesturing to some stormtroopers to move the remains.

Piett stood at attention. "General Veers reports that the Rebels have been fully routed, and they are conducting a meter by meter search of the base for useful information."

"Very good, Admiral." Vader thought for a moment. Luke was gone from the planet, he sensed, and he had no idea to where the boy had escaped. The Force, and logic, were pointing him towards the Princess, and he had a good idea of exactly where she would head next.

"Set course for Alderaan," he ordered. "It's time that I paid the royal family a visit."


	22. Chapter 22

Solo suggested a friendly game of dejarik to lighten the mood as they settled in for the flight to Nar Shadda. He knew the Kid had little experience with women, but he seemed positively cowed by the Princess as she glared at him across the lounge. Conversely, Han decided that she looked pretty cute when she was pissed, with her eyes bright and the color returned to her cheeks. Luke's remark had been a pretty low blow, he thought, even if the Kid wasn't intending that. He didn't know anything about her history with Vader, but that still wasn't a comparison you made lightly, especially when among rebels. Her reaction was actually pretty subdued, considering.

"I'll pass," Leia said, stomping off to the lounge. "I'm going to take a shower."

"Guess it's a good thing I filled up the water tank on Yavin," Han muttered under his breath as she slammed the door to the bunk room.

"I didn't mean to hurt her feelings," Luke said disconsolately as Chewbacca lit up the dejarik table. "I'm just worried about her, that's all."

"She'll come around, Kid," Han reassured him. "Just give her space. She's had a rough few months."

Luke bowed his head. "I know," he said. "She told me about being stuck on Endor. It sounded terrifying."

"The Imps did a real number on her too," Solo added. "She's tougher than a lot of people I know who went through that. Most of them ended up either executed or killing themselves."

"What do you mean?" Gods, the Kid was naïve, still.

"They tortured her, Luke. Tried to blow up her planet in front of her. That's why she acts…."he lowered his voice, "like a startled nek. It screws with your brain, you know?"

"That's why she's so scared all the time," Luke said, chewing his lip thoughtfully. "Han, we have to get her to Dagobah. Ben told me there's a Jedi master there- he can help her."

"Why didn't you go before?" Solo wondered as he made his first move on the board.

"He just told me," Luke clarified.

"Luke, he's been dead for two months. You're seeing things."

Sighing, Luke decided to change the subject. "Why are we going to Nar Shadda?"

"Gotta pay off some money I owe. Plus, the Imps steer clear. Should be a good place to regroup and figure out our next steps."

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Leia's curiosity got the better of her as they approached Nar Shadda, and she joined the rest of the Falcon's occupants in the cockpit to catch a glimpse of the fabled hellhole from space. High above, the glittering lights reminded her of Coruscant, but even from here she could see the veneer of dirty haze that carpeted the main level of the city covering the entire moon.

"Ugh," she said aloud, wrinkling her nose as they approached.

"Don't worry about it- you're not getting off the ship," Solo told her firmly. "And by not getting off the ship, I mean planting your royal seat in the lounge or the bunkroom until we get back. Not saying that you'll stay and then sneaking out the moment I turn my back, you hear?"

"Can I use the 'fresher at least?" she asked frostily.

"Maybe. If you behave yourself." Transmitting one of his many landing codes for the smuggler's haven, he looked at Chewbacca. "Chewie, sorry buddy but I need you to stay here and babysit. Luke can come with me to find Enbeb and get her the money." Chewbacca grumbled, though Luke couldn't tell if he was concerned for Solo's safety or just unhappy about being stuck on board the ship. "We won't be long."

In his few months with the Alliance, Luke had only had a couple of opportunities to join missions to inhabited planets. Other than one trip to Gerrard V that ended with Luke's first experience with a hangover, and a quick pit stop on Kwenn, Luke's recreational activities had been limited to the offerings on the Rebel base. So it was with a certain level of excitement that he donned some of Han's spare clothes and set out with the captain into the murky evening.

"So who is this Enbeb person?" Luke asked, reaching into his coat pocket to finger his lightsaber as an Agonof slithered by, flicking its tongue at the two humans.

"She's just a speculator," Solo explained as he led them to a main thoroughfare. "I had a hot lead on a spice supply right before I met you. Chewie and I were going to check it out with some of the cash we got from the Alliance, but Jabba cleaned me out. So I borrowed some money from Cucu to try to get a fresh start, but by the time I got there someone else had already made it in and out with the spice supply. I'm a couple months behind on paying her back, but I'm sure she'll be reasonable."

"I hope so," said Luke, staring wide-eyed as two Twi'lek women beckoned to him, making lewd gestures and laughing as he turned his head away.

"Just keep your mouth shut and your eyes open."

"How are we gonna find her?"

"She's usually at the Meltdown. Trouble is, so are half the bounty hunters on Nar Shadda. That's why I wanted you to come along. You stand out a lot less than Chewie."

"Is there a bounty out for you?"

"Don't think so, unless Cucu's put one out in the last couple of weeks. You?"

Horrified, Luke's jaw dropped at the suggestion. "Why would there be a bounty on me?"

"I dunno," Han responded casually, "I imagine the Imps would like to have a word or two with you about the Death Star." He chuckled as the Kid started looking over his shoulders, hunching down into the borrowed jacket. "Don't worry, Kid. The Alliance keeps tabs on that sort of thing. They'd know if you'd been pinned. Here we are."

A green neon sign with an arrow, presumably intending to be welcoming, pointed them in through the rough doorway. Inside, a long bar formed a barrier between the restaurant, which was mostly empty, and the drinking side of the venue, which was packed. Scattered menus, sticky with food stains, lay across the dingy metal tables and Solo grabbed one as he led Luke over to the bar. They sat down on the last two open stools, which turned out to be broken. Solo balanced well enough on his, but Luke managed to knock the ripped vinyl seat off its base. He bent down to pick it up, grateful that the clattering had been absorbed by the dull roar of conversation and clinking glasses.

"What'll it be?" the bartender asked, making a show of wiping his towel across the bar in front of them.

"Two Sunburns," Solo told him, holding up two fingers. Nodding, the bartender turned around to mix their drinks, and a moment later slid two glasses filled with a viscous orange liquid at them.

"Fourteen credits." Solo passed the man a twenty credit coin.

"Keep the change." Then he leaned in closer, sliding another twenty credits towards the man. "You know when Cucu Enbeb is coming around?"

The barkeep pocketed the additional credits. "I'd bet she'll be here soon, within the next hour. She usually takes that booth over there." Glancing over, Han saw that the booth was currently occupied by a group of Rodians.

"'Kay, thanks." He looked over at Luke, who was sipping gingerly at his drink. "Don't down that too fast, Kid. I've heard about you and alcohol."

"Heard what?" asked Luke indignantly.

"Wedge mentioned something about a dance recital in the mess hall after hours one night."

Luke set his drink down. "Fair enough. So what do we do now?"

"We wait."

Trying not to be obvious, Luke kept his eyes on the door, wondering when the speculator would arrive. Han hadn't described her, but Luke was sure that if she associated with the smuggler, she was probably a striking woman.

He narrowed his eyes as two men walked in together, chatting. One of them was dressed far too elegantly for the surroundings, and three waitresses hurried over as they sat at a table in the restaurant side. He could see the men flirting as they gave their drink orders. Then, the one Luke had spotted looked him straight in the eye, furrowing his brow with half-recognition.

"Hey, isn't that…." Luke started, but was interrupted when a smoky, tenor voice addressed them from across the room.

"Han Solo." As Luke expected, Cucu was a stunning woman. She clasped a cigar between ruby red painted lips as she strode purposefully over to them, swaying her hips under a tight black gown. "Darling, where have you been?"

"Hey, Cucu. Sorry it's been a while."

"I've been dreadfully worried about you." She dipped over him as he turned around to greet her, pressing his face into her bosom. Expertly, he backed away, taking her hand.

"You look lovely, Cucu." She took the cigar out and fanned herself with her hand, pretending to blush. "I was doing my best to get back."

She blinked her purple eyes at him and then noticed Luke. "Hello, young man. What's your name?"

"Luke, ma'am." Luke tried to stop staring at the hint of warm, chocolate colored skin that peeked out through the slit in her dress that continued up almost up to her hip. The woman had to have been not quite a head shorter than Chewbacca.

"What a good boy you've found, Han. Tell me, where is Chewbacca?"

"He had to run an errand," Han told her, squirming away as she pressed him and Luke against the bar. "Look, Cucu, I've brought your money."

"Han." Cucu looked at him reproachfully. "What makes you think I was worried about money? I just wanted to see you back safe."

"That's funny, Cucu, cuz I heard you were thinking about putting a bounty out on me."

"Perish the thought, my dear!" Cucu took another drag of her cigar. "It wasn't a bounty, it was a reward for your safe return." She reached out and stroked his arm, squeezing his biceps. "I'd hate to think of anything terrible happening to you."

"I see," responded Solo flatly. "Well, here's your money, anyways."

Cucu counted the credits, concealing them in her décolletage. "You know, Han my dear, unfortunately it was fairly costly putting an advance on the reward money for you."

"How much do you want to call off your dogs, Cucu?"

"Dogs! Is that what you think of me? You know I always use Trandoshans."

"How much, Cucu?"

"Fifteen hundred."

"Well, there goes that." He handed her the money, glad that he had already paid the tab at the bar. "Nice working with you, Cucu." She reached out and patted his butt as he stood.

"Always a pleasure, Captain Solo."

Grabbing Luke, Solo stomped out of the bar. Luke looked over to the table where the familiar man had been dining with his companion, but they were long gone. Shrugging, Luke hurried to keep up with his friend.

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Leia found Solo's datapad and was amusing herself by downloading Holonet reports when she heard a banging on the side of the ship. Peeking out, she saw a man standing outside; tall and dark, wearing an expensive looking suit and cloak.

"Chewie!" she whispered to the Wookiee, who was down in the mechanical bay fiddling with some pipes. "There's someone outside."

Chewbacca scrambled up, pointing to the princess to join the droids in the rear hold. Artoo whistled at her when she came back, and she patted the little astromech fondly.

Looking out the viewport, Chewbacca sighed when he recognized Lando Calrissian. Lando banged again.

"Chewbacca? Chewie, you in there?"

Pointing a stern finger at Leia, who was peeking out of the hold, Chewbacca lowered the boarding ramp and stepped out, standing between Lando and the entrance to the ship.

"Hey, Chewbacca, how you been?" Chewbacca whuffed at him, shrugging. "I need to see Han."

Chewbacca shrugged. "C'mon, you must know when he's getting back. I saw him at the Meltdown." Another shrug.

"Look, it's nothing personal, okay. I need to talk to him about Tiatkin. She never came back after she took those passengers of his to Alderaan."

Lando was accustomed to wildly varying standards of fashion, but he still could have sworn that the girl who came barreling out of the Falcon was wearing a nightgown.

"What passengers?" she demanded, clearing having been eavesdropping.

"Hello, what have we here?" Chewbacca tried to grab Leia to shove her back into the ship as Lando extended a hand.

"I asked you a question," Leia said tersely.

"I beg your pardon." Lando bowed deliberately. "I am afraid I never learned their names."

"It was a man and a woman, older?"

"Indeed. Friends of yours?"

"You might say that." She shook her arm, trying to get the Wookiee to let go. "What happened to your pilot?"

"I don't know. She never came back. I assume she was trapped when Alderaan was blockaded."

"I'll tell you what." Leia finally succeeded in freeing herself from Chewbacca's grip. "You get me a ship to go to Alderaan, I'll find your pilot. She can bring the ship back."

"You?" Lando rubbed his moustache. "You're going to sneak past the blockade onto Alderaan?"

"Absolutely." Chewbacca roared at her, grabbing for her arm again but Leia ducked out of the way, dashing to Lando's other side.

"Seems like Chewbacca here isn't real thrilled with the idea."

"It's none of his business."

"None of whose business?" Han and Luke walked into the hangar, and Luke's eyes lit with recognition when he saw Lando. "What are you doin' here, Lando?"

"That's where I knew him!" he said to himself as Solo joined the small group gathered outside the Falcon, fingering his blaster.

"I thought I told you to stay on the ship," he growled at Leia.

"I don't remember appointing you Emperor of my life," she growled back at him.

"You don't need to be talking to this guy." He gestured dismissively at Lando. "He's trouble."

"I'm trouble?" Lando pointed at himself incredulously. "You're the one who makes my best pilots disappear."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Tiatkin never came back from Alderaan."

"Kriff." Solo was briefly speechless. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Anyways, I was hoping maybe you'd heard from your friends there, maybe you have a lead on where she is…"

"No." Solo shook his head. "'Fraid not."

"All right then." Lando turned, giving Leia a wink. "I'll be headed back to the Meltdown then. I'm late for a meeting."

As he walked out, Chewbacca launched into an arm waving rant about Leia's attempted plot.

"You really are an idiot sometimes, princess, you know that?" Solo said, tossing her a package wrapped in plastic. "Here."

"What's this?" She pulled open the wrapping, shaking out the billowing clouds of soft dove grey cloth. It was a long sleeved tunic with matching pants and a belt. He handed her a pair of boots. "Try these on. I had to guess at the size."

"Thanks, Han." She held the outfit up, reveling in the feeling of the clothes against her cheek. It had been a long time since she'd worn anything decent.

"Now go put it on, and then we're all going to talk like civilized beings about where we go next. No running away."

"You know," said Leia as she marched back up the boarding ramp, "You'd be a lot more attractive if you weren't so keen on barking orders."

"You too, your Highnessness," Han called after her. "You too."


	23. Chapter 23

Were it not for the crippling grief over the state of the planet and the loss of her daughter, the gnawing hunger from the lack of decent meals, the persistent worry over the fate of the household staff, and the constant frustration over any lack of news from the outside galaxy, Breha Organa might have enjoyed her house arrest. On a normal day, back when such a thing existed, her day started before the sunrise, when she'd sneak in a half hour of aerobics before breakfast meetings with regional governors, policy planning sessions with executive advisors, lunch meetings with directors of various advocacy groups, afternoon ribbon cuttings with religious organizations, dinner meetings with university officials looking for research funding, and then late evenings poring over letters and papers from around the planet. Occasionally she'd even find a moment when her husband's and daughter's equally chaotic schedules brought them together at the same place at the same time.

Now a normal day consisted of waking up next to her husband and picking up one of her old paper books that the Imperial troops had let them keep in their apartment. Never in her life had she had so much time to sit and read.

As they had fully anticipated, the Imperial troops arrived barely a day after they set back down on their home planet. Not wanting to call too much attention to their arrival, they had asked the young pilot to set down in Aldera's public spaceport and walked through the empty streets back to the royal palace. Stores were shuttered, and broken glass littered the sidewalks in front of a few of the shops. A few abandoned speeders sat near the spaceport, one smashed nearly beyond recognition against one of the decorative outer walls marking the perimeter of the customs area. Following them out, the pilot asked about refueling. Normally there was a kiosk at the spaceport, but it appeared to be abandoned. The three of them went back to check on the fuel supply. Unsurprisingly, the tanks were all empty.

As they trudged back again towards down the main street of Aldera, a few people started to poke their heads out of doors, recognizing the monarchs. Soon a small parade had formed, escorting them back home. When they arrived, Bail turned and held up his hands for quiet. By this time a few hundred people were clustered around the outer gates of the palace.

"Unfortunately the Empire remains committed to our destruction," he said. The crowd murmured, people in the back shouting for him to speak louder. Someone ran and found a bullhorn, handing it up to him. "The Empire remains committed to our destruction," he repeated. "I know there are many of us who remain, either by choice or by necessity. I can only recommend that if you are able, you should leave now. I do not know what the future will hold." Deciding he should probably end on an inspirational note, he ad-libbed lamely, "For those of us who stay, we must remember our common bond and values. No matter what, we are forever Alderaani."

The first Imperial ships arrived as the sun rose over Aldera the next morning. A few additional holdouts had fled, but the vast majority of people who'd waited out the Death Star did so because they had no other options. Though they'd scolded them, the Organas were comforted when a ship's worth of household staff arrived at the palace within hours of their return. They had been on a ship with Strina Parnuela waiting far beyond the Death Star's range, and had returned when the station left the system. Bail hung his head when he learned Strina's fate in the skies above the battlestation.

The staff were all hustled out onto the street as stormtroopers flooded the palace, followed by some minor general whom Bail and Breha suspected had been chosen as more of an insult than a threat. Horrified, they could see the light reflecting off the platforms erected in an orbit around the planet, effectively cutting off access to and from the rest of the galaxy. The spaceports were shut and the food supplies commandeered. Some of the remaining residents fled with their families to the relative safety of the mountains, while others simply acquiesced when they were pressed into service for the troops. The two monarchs assumed that they would be executed, but instead were confined to a few small rooms in the palace. And so began the Imperial occupation.

For more than two months now the population had suffered under Imperial rule. From their balcony, Bail and Breha could see the bread lines that formed up every morning outside a grocery store staffed by thin women under heavy armed guard. Knowing their rooms were likely bugged, the Organas kept their conversations vague, until eventually they had nearly stopped speaking to each other, preferring to spend their days in silence.

One morning, a brisk knock at the door after breakfast had been delivered startled them. Brushing off her dress, Breha joined her husband by the door as two stormtroopers stepped in.

"Your presence is required," one of them said brusquely, gesturing for them to head down the hallway. Taking his wife's arm, Bail led the way, wondering if this was finally the end.

The stormtroopers took them to the formal reception room and gestured them inside. Confused, Bail opened the door, stopping in his tracks when he saw Darth Vader waiting for them, alone, on the far side of the room.

"Won't you join me, your Highnesses?" Squeezing hands tightly, the couple stepped in, the door slamming shut behind them.

"Sit." Vader pointed to the sofa in front of the ornate fireplace. Neither Bail nor Breha moved, and for a moment they simply stared at the Dark Lord.

"What do you want?" Breha finally spit out. Bail put a hand on her arm, warning her to take care. "Haven't you done enough?"

Not one for games, Vader ignored her and pressed forward with his intended line of discussion. "How did your daughter learn to conceal her talents with the Force?"

More silence, though Vader could sense the conflict in both their minds. So they had known of her powers. "Is the Jedi who trained her still on Alderaan?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Bail said finally, unconsciously echoing Leia's words and tone after her capture by the Sith.

"You should be proud of her, you know," Vader continued. "Your planet would be nothing but space dust were it not for her efforts. Did you know that she was the one who destroyed the weapons system on the Death Star before it could fire on Alderaan?"

They both gasped. "So you admit she was alive, on the Death Star?" Bail asked.

"Very much so. Her commitment to her cause is admirable. I've rarely seen such resistance to our special…methods."

Breha lunged forward, nearly reaching the Dark Lord before he held up a hand to stop her in her tracks. "You monster! What did you do to her?!"

"I believe we've strayed from the original question, your Highness. Is the Jedi still here?"

"No," Bail muttered, shaking with the strain of keeping himself from bodily attacking Vader.

"Where are they?"

"Dead."

"How did you discover her powers?"

"I don't know."

"Don't lie to me, Organa." Vader stood, shoving a finger under Bail's nose. Breha stood back behind the sofa, breathing hard, watching them carefully.

"What does it matter?" she hissed softly. "You killed her."

Vader looked up at her, his rhythmic breathing the only sound in the room.

"You took her from us," Breha repeated, the timbre of her voice rising. "You don't even know what you've done." She wanted to hurt him, the way he'd hurt them, the way he'd hurt Leia. Nothing else mattered right now. She wanted to cut him so deeply that the scar would never fade. "You want to know how we knew about her Jedi powers? Because her father was a Jedi, you evil, filthy, worthless piece of trash. Her father was Anakin Skywalker." Sobbing, Breha fell into her husband's arms.

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Another knock on the outside of the Falcon surprised the four occupants as they sat down, as agreed, to hash out their next steps. Luke had practiced what he intended to say to convince Leia to come to Dagobah with him: once she agreed, surely Han would fly them there. Leia sat stonefaced on the opposite side of the table, looking far more like a normal person in her new outfit than any of them had yet seen. Chewie and Han lounged together on the far side of the bench, hoping that where ever their journey took them, there were more beers and fewer Imperials than they had seen in a while.

"I bet it's Lando again," Han grumbled, standing to look out the cockpit viewport. The rest heard him curse and then come tearing back into the lounge.

"We've got some company," he said, grabbing his blaster out of its holster. Not waiting for an explanation, Leia dashed over to the bunk room and grabbed two blasters of her own.

"Imperials?" she whispered in a shaky voice.

Han shook his head. "Bounty hunters."

"What do they want?" Luke asked, pulling out his lightsaber.

"Good question, Kid. I'm guessing it's one of us."

"Well, what are we going to do?" Leia demanded. "Can we just fly out?"

"I'm guessing they probably did something to the hangar doors to keep that from happening." Ducking, Solo snuck into the cockpit. "Yup. And it looks like we're surrounded."

"So now what?"

Solo thought for a minute. "Okay, I have an idea. Get all the blasters picked up. Chewie, open up the smuggling compartments."

"We're just going to hide and hope for the best?" Leia shook her head. "Give me a break."

"No, your Worship, we are not just going to hide and hope for the best. Well, I take that back. You are going to hide and hope for the best, we are going to ambush them."

Leia stalked off into the bunk room and grabbed her knapsack, throwing it into the smuggling compartment that Chewie had opened in front of her. As she climbed in, they could hear her muttering about the foolishness of the plan.

"You know there's no way she's going to stay in there, right?" Luke whispered to Solo as the latter set the timed door release from the cockpit and then hustled back to the second smuggling compartment, keeping low so the bounty hunters wouldn't see him through the cockpit windows.

"I know. I just figured it might at least delay her." He paused to let Chewie settle into the compartment, bowcaster in hand, and grinned at Luke. "She's a piece of work, isn't she?"

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Leia clutched her blasters as she heard heavy footsteps above her. The door had popped open and some of the bounty hunters had boarded, though by her guess only three of the group had come on board. The rest must still be waiting outside, which would ruin Han's stupid plan, she thought bitterly. As silently as possible, she fingered the weapon's supply she kept in her bag. She'd taken some sort of grenade out of the TIE fighter on Endor, and it was buried underneath the blasters she'd stockpiled, along with the odd looking half burnt cylinder she found in the rubble of the crashed Alliance ship.

The footsteps moved towards the cockpit.

"Solo!" A gravelly voice yelled. "Solo, we know you're in here! We're not looking for you. Hand over Skywalker and the rest of you can go."

Leia put her hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp. They wanted Luke? All at once she realized that the Empire must have found out who had laid waste to their prized battle machine.

"Solo!" The voice yelled again, the owner clearly in the rear hold. Then, in a more conversational tone, "Hey, Dengar, there's a coupla droids back here….yeaughh! That little bastard shocked me!"

Not a moment later, Leia heard her companions burst from their hiding spot and lay down fire on the bounty hunters in the ship. She pushed on the panel above her, grunting as it refused to move. Something…or someone…was on it, preventing her from escaping. She gave another shove to no avail.

Trying desperately to evaluate the situation from the darkness of her hiding spot, Leia heard an unfamiliar hiss followed by a steady hum. Then blaster fire erupted directly above, accompanied by screams that she hoped came from the bounty hunters. The footsteps clattered away, and Leia gave the panel another push.

This time she burst out, clutching her weapons and swinging her bag onto her back. The fight had moved outside the ship, and she could see Han and Chewie huddled under the cover of the gangplank while Luke swung a long blue laser, bouncing shots back towards their assailants. Cocking her head as she peeked around the door, she realized suddenly that the cylinder he held in his hand matched the one she concealed in her knapsack. Pulling it out, she held it away from her body and pushed up on the switch.

A blue beam shot out away from her body, simultaneously startling her and drawing the attention of the bounty hunters. "Another one!" one of them shouted, and bolts began to fly at her.

Ducking back into the ship, Leia could hear Han cursing at her as she deactivated the lightsaber, throwing it back in her bag and returning fire from her two blasters. She could see that the only exit was blocked by two heavily armed Rodians who seemed more than happy to leave a trail of casualties on their way to capturing Luke. She stepped back again to regroup, and banged into something hard.

"Your Highness, what are we going to do?" Threepio stood there watching the firefight with bright eyes. The bounty hunters must have reactivated him.

"I'm not sure," she said through gritted teeth. "Just stay close, okay?"

"Oh dear oh dear," the droid murmured.

The bounty hunters looked like they were preparing to charge, making hand signals to each other and looking meaningfully at Luke and then the Falcon. Gulping, Leia looked back in her bag, finding the grenade. It was their last chance. Activating it, she pitched it towards the bounty hunters.

"Get down!" she hollered at her friends, huddling behind the door to the Falcon and waiting for an explosion.

It didn't come. Instead, the grenade burst in a puff of smoke that quickly obscured everything in the room.

"Keep down!" she heard Luke yell as she caught glimpses of light from his weapon whipping through the opacity. Then, an idea popped into her head.

"Come with me and keep quiet," she said to Threepio, dragging him down the gangplank. She could keep close enough track of Luke to stay clear of his attack, and the bounty hunters seemed to be faring poorly. A sliver of dim light shone ahead and she broke for it, slipping out into the dimly lit street as the fight came to a one-sided conclusion behind her.


	24. Chapter 24

Vader stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him and leaving the Organas standing in silence. Quietly, Breha began to weep.

"Why did you tell him?" Bail asked softly.

"It was the only way I knew to hurt him," she said, falling into her husband's arms and sobbing. "It hardly matters anymore."

"He'll kill us."

"I don't care."

Outside, stormtroopers jumped to attention as Vader passed by, heading back to the room he'd been given for his stay. The queen's words had reached him deeply, though not as she intended. For the first time since Padme told her husband that they were expecting a child, he felt….glee.

He'd never imagined in his wildest dreams that there were two babies nestled together in Padme's womb. Growing so closely together, their aura was a single strong presence, bound forever by the bonds of biology and the Force. After nearly twenty years of waiting and mourning, his family would be nearly whole again. The children wouldn't be rivals: they would be partners in the destruction of Palpatine and the rise of a new order ruled by Darth Vader with his son and daughter at his side. Now all he had to do was wait.

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Finding the Meltdown Café was easy enough, though Leia attracted a fair amount of undesired attention as she ambled in with the shiny protocol droid in tow.

"Hey!" called the bartender to her, "No droids in here."

"Oh dear," Threepio said, "That often seems to be the case. With your permission, I'll wait outside."

"Go ahead," Leia told him. "I'll be along shortly."

She peered into the shadows of the restaurant and, as expected, spotted Lando Calrissian sitting alone nursing a brandy. She slid into the seat across from him.

"You still interested in my offer?" she asked.

"My dear, to be perfectly honest I'm not one to just hand ships over to unnamed strangers in return for vague promises." Lando took a drag on the cigarra he twirled in his fingers. "You have any collateral?"

"No."

"What about your droid?"

"He's coming with me. Look, you know Han- doesn't that count for anything?"

Lando chuckled. "Han's been known to pick up some unsavory characters from time to time. And he seemed concerned about you. I'd hate to put a damper on our relationship."

"He doesn't tell me what to do," Leia responded firmly. "Look, what if I send back some cash with your pilot and ship? Then could we make a deal?"

"If you've got cash, why are you begging for a ship?" Lando nodded at a server who passed by the table, gesturing for two more brandies.

"I don't have it with me. I have access to cash on Alderaan."

"Have you been living under a rock for the last two months? No one has access to cash on Alderaan anymore."

Leia was tempted to tell him that his assessment of her recent living conditions was relatively accurate, but held back. "Look, just name your price. I've got friends in high places."

"Prove it." Lando looked at her critically. The girl seemed unlike Han's usual companions, who tended more towards well-groomed sex kittens than this skinny waif with sunken eyes and a nasty looking scar marking her neck. Of course, his most recent girlfriend was a charity case too, so maybe Han's preferences were changing in his old age.

"I don't trust you enough to prove it." Hearing someone walk in, she jerked slightly and looked nervously over her shoulder. It was just a Bith couple, already in moderate stages of inebriation.

"Then I guess we're at an impasse."

She leaned across the table. "Look, Lando. I am going to Alderaan and I am going to Alderaan now. If you ever want to see your friend again, I suggest you make a deal now. I can find a ship, or I can steal one. I've done it before and there have been a lot more dangerous people than you standing in my way." Reaching forward, she grabbed the lapel of his silk shirt and pulled him in close. "I am not someone you want to trifle with."

Lando looked into her eyes, and then immediately regretted it. He could have almost sworn the girl was burning a hole into him. His throat felt tight.

"Okay, okay." She let go, and the sensation passed. He threw down some money on the table. "I can see it's important to you. I'll take you to the ship. You'll find Tiatkin and send her back?"

"Of course." The girl's tone was cheery again as she took a gulp of the brandy the server put down in front of her. "Let's go." Outside, Leia peered carefully right and left as she collected Threepio and then hurried after Lando. She wasn't certain if she was more nervous about running into Imperials, bounty hunters, or Han. Hopefully her diversion had kept them busy long enough.

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"Are you kidding me?" Solo kicked one of the dead bounty hunter's helmets in frustration as the haze from the smoke grenade continued to clear. They had shoved all the bodies into some crates on the side of the hangar, and were getting ready for a quick departure when Luke popped his head out of the Falcon and announced that neither Leia nor Threepio were anywhere to be seen. "Kriffing Lando….if I find out…that little idiot….dammit!"

Chewbacca worked to calm down the irate captain as Luke found some different clothes and a hooded cloak to wear. It was cold comfort to know the bounty hunters were after him: at least they knew Han was in the clear at the moment, but the knowledge that someone was specifically interested in his capture chilled Luke.

"We'll find her," Luke said. "Han, why don't you stay behind this time and get the ship ready to go? I'll take Chewie with me."

"You don't know your way around, Kid," Han protested.

"But I can find Leia with the Force. When she gets mad, she sticks out like a sore thumb."

"Okay, but keep an eye on him, Chewie." Han retreated into the ship, cursing again as he began the preflight procedures and set the sensors to monitor for any additional unwanted intrusions.

How did he end up in this situation? he wondered grumpily. If only he hadn't run into Wedge, or agreed to that stupid mission to Endor, or walked away before strapping Leia firmly into a seat on Rebel One. For the last few years, it had seemed like the Universe was out to get him.

Of course, he realized, Leia was an adult and seemed to have a sense of what she wanted. So what was stopping him from just writing her and her stupid mission off and blasting off with the Kid and Chewie. She'd certainly proven she could take care of herself, even if her self-preservation instincts seemed a little haywire at times. He smiled slightly when he thought back to her parents. They must have had their hands full when she was growing up. Idly, he wondered how they were doing, or if they were even still alive. Their stubborn insistence on returning to Alderaan after the Death Star's destruction had bothered him at the time, but at least now he saw where Leia got her tendency to prioritize her cause over her own survival.

"Still, she has a lot of spirit," he said aloud to himself, thinking about how the girl had managed to survive in an inhospitable forest for months and still have enough energy…or whatever it was…to beat up a Wookiee. Luke seemed wary of her power, but now that she had calmed down a little, Han realized that she rarely seemed capricious or destructive about the way she wielded the Force. No matter what Luke said, Solo didn't think she seemed anything like Darth Vader. He'd heard stories of the Dark Lord indiscriminately killing Imperial soldiers on the spot for minor offenses, and had seen the reports of massacres and terror campaigns across the galaxy. Leia, on the other hand, was clearly committed to the Rebellion and to Alderaan. Dark Side or not, he wasn't afraid of her. In fact, it was refreshing to see a tiny thing like her have a secret weapon against bigger and badder beings in the rough-and-tumble galaxy.

The thirty minutes he allotted to Luke and Chewie before they had to report in elapsed, and Solo was just starting to get concerned when the hangar door opened. His face dropped when he saw that Leia wasn't with them, and instead that Chewbacca was bodily dragging Lando Calrissian towards the Falcon.

Han popped open the boarding ramp and stomped outside, his hands in tight fists.

"What in the hell did you do, Lando? Where is she?"

"She said you're not responsible for her," Lando responded, breaking free of the Wookiee and brushing the residual fur off his sleeves.

"You didn't give her a ship?" Han's jaw dropped. "How could you be so stupid?"

"It wasn't a nice ship!" He stepped back, withering under the glares of the two men and the Wookiee. "What do you care if she tries to get to Alderaan anyways? She's a big girl. Besides, it's a moot point now. She's long gone."

"You better hope she makes it okay, Calrissian," Solo growled, grabbing the man and steering him back out the hangar door. "That's all I have to say to you right now."

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Without explaining that the extra money was to cover the cost of clearing bodies from the hangar—not an unusual occurrence on Nar Shadda, Han tipped the hangar staff generously as they left the moon.

"I guess at least she took that stupid droid with her," Han mumbled as the three of them silently watched out of the viewport as the city shrank into twinkling lights in the distance. "So where to next?"

"I need to get to the Dagobah system," Luke said quietly. "I know it's probably not the best time…."

"Nah, kid, it's fine. But how do you intend to get back? Are the Rebels gonna pick you up?"

"I don't know," Luke admitted. "Maybe you could…"

"Look." Solo turned around, suddenly angry. "You Alliance people don't seem to realize this, but I am not interested in getting involved in your war. I don't just fly this bird around for my health. I'm trying to make a livelihood here, and the longer I hang around with Rebels, the harder that gets."

"Then why are you so keen on keeping Leia in tow?" Luke was surprised at his own vehemence.

"I don't know!" Han threw up his hands. "Maybe because I have an incurable inability to just let people run off and get themselves killed." Chewbacca guffawed. "Yeah, laugh it up, fuzzball. You wouldn't be here if I didn't feel that way." He looked back to Luke. "Besides, I tried to get rid of her. She was the one who snuck on board when I was trying to leave Yavin."

"I see," responded Luke skeptically.

"Why?" Han leaned back in his pilot's seat, resting his hand against his hands. "You jealous?"

"No! I just don't understand why she would choose to hang around with…"

"With who? The likes of us?" Solo pointed to himself and Chewbacca. "What are you tryin' to imply, Kid?"

"Nothing." Frustrated, Luke looked down, fingering his lightsaber. "I guess I'm just worried about her."

"So what do you want to do?"

Luke thought for a long minute. Ben had told him a Jedi Master awaited on Dagobah, someone who could give him the training he'd desired from the moment Ben first told him of his heritage and destiny. "I want to go to Dagobah. I think that's the best way to help the Alliance and Leia right now."

"Ho-kay." Han punched in a search on his astronav system. "You sure that's the right place? It's uninhabited.

"Yeah," said Luke. "That's the place."

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She knew the coordinates by heart, and was able to drop out of hyperspace far enough out in Alderaan's solar system to avoid detection by the array of defense platforms that the Empire had erected to block all traffic on and off her home planet. Two Star Destroyers also patrolled in tight loops through the system, looking for the smugglers and blockade runners that had been trying to break through the interdiction since the Empire's crackdown.

Lando had loaned her a one-person Z-95 headhunter, augmented with aftermarket weapons and shield systems that would serve her well if she had to engage with the Imperial forces. At the moment, her preference was to sneak down to the surface and evaluate the situation in person. Then she could figure out next steps.

For a long time she hovered in space, the systems running at a minimum to preserve power and avoid sending out any signals that would call attention to her presence. The defense platforms were well situated to cover every possible avenue onto the planet. She'd have to find a way to mask her entry. She wondered if she could somehow hide behind a meteorite as it crashed to the surface, but dismissed that idea as too difficult. Perhaps crashing wasn't a terrible idea though….

Like many planets, the near space around Alderaan was cluttered with junk: old satellites, remnants of crashed ships, garbage from the era when refuse was still shot off into space instead of recycled and repurposed planetside. If she could find a good cluster of junk, she could float with it for a while and then try to make her ship appear to be crashing and burning up in the atmosphere. Of course, that plan depended on any number of factors working in favor: most notably, that no one was watching from the surface, but at the moment it was the best she had. Gently easing her way forward, she adjusted her sensors to look for one of the debris clouds that rotated far outside the orbit of the defense platforms.

Spotting a likely looking heap of bashed up satellites that must have dated back at least half a millennium, Leia put her ship into a gentle spin, matching speeds with the debris. She held her breath, watching the readout in her display nervously to see if she'd attracted any attention. After an agonizing hour of waiting, she shifted enough so that her viewport pointed directly down at the planet. Unexpectedly, a tear came to her eye as the blue green surface rotated gently beneath her.

The last time she'd seen her home, she thought it was mere seconds away from being blown out of existence. Before she heard and felt the blast taking out the main weapons array on the Death Star, her thoughts had whirled at a million miles an hour as she pictured the people and plants and cities and plains and mountains far below her. It was springtime in Aldera, her favorite season, when the bulbs sent tender green stalks bursting out of newly thawed ground. The birds had started to return from their annual migration, settling into the budding flower trees and busily constructing nests in preparation for their new families. Fresh new vegetables were popping up on tables in the open air farm markets that were scattered around the capital city, and the air smelled crisp and alive.

It must be nearly summer now, Leia thought with a lump in her throat. She fought her inclination to just fly hell for leather down to the surface, so desperate was she to return home and feel the solid ground under her feet. Confidence, she thought to herself, remembering her success in previous escapades. This is going to work.

As her ship drifted slowly over the mountain region, the crisp snowcapped peaks visible above a thin layer of clouds, Leia started her ship spinning, breathing deeply to control the nausea. She could see two of the defense platforms close by, and closed her eyes as she spun by them, praying that she would appear to be a harmless piece of junk knocked out of orbit by chance. Cringing, she heard her proximity alarm go off as she was targeted. She gripped the controls, ready to flee, but the alarm stopped. They must have decided she wasn't worth shooting down.

Keeping a careful eye on her altimeter, Leia continued to drop until she entered the thick cloud layer over the deep lake that hugged the Juran mountains. She'd spent many vacations there as a child, splashing in the cold water near the shore as she watched fishing boats rocking lazily on the gentle waves. As she pointed downwards, Leia engaged the engines, breathing a sigh of relief as her ship righted itself and she sped away towards a high pass.

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"Three weeks, Kid. You need to stay any longer than that and you'll have to find another way out."

"Okay, Han." Luke doubled checked his bag, which he'd packed with some non-perishable food, two blasters, extra clothes, and of course his father's lightsaber. "And thanks. I owe you one."

"You owe me more than that, Kid," Han replied tensely as he maneuvered through the fog. They'd slowed considerably as they descended, the Falcon's already questionable sensors going haywire the closer they got to the surface of the planet.

"We're going to have to switch to visual scans to find a spot to land," Han told his companions, flipping a switch. "If there is a place to land?"

"Just get us close enough for me to hop out and we'll call it good," said Luke, standing up to walk towards the door to the boarding ramp.

"Nuh-uh," Han responded. "I have a feeling I'm already going to have to answer to some general for losing one Rebel. I'm not going to let you go leaping out to drown in a swamp."

"There." Luke pointed to a mucky looking clearing surrounded by trees. "There's definitely some solid ground to the right there- could you hover and drop the ramp near that fallen tree?"

"Are you sure, Kid?"

"Yeah." Luke's stared at the spot, his voice sounding as though he was in a trance. "Right there."

"Okay." Carefully, Han lowered the Falcon, activating the repulsors so she hovered a few feet above the murky water. The boarding ramp landing with a small bounce on the spongy ground. "Chewie, keep her right here. I'm going with Luke until we find this Jedi of his. What did you say his name supposedly is?"

"Yoda," answered Luke, picking his way carefully through the gnarled branches forming enormous webs across the ground. "You really don't have to come."

"Cares for you, your friend does." The high, gravelly voice made them both jump. A tiny green being, no higher than Chewie's knee, stood on a fallen log, watching them. "Good friend is he to have, mmm."

"Lemme guess," said Han, brushing some moss that had fallen from a tree branch off his shoulder. "You Yoda?"

"And perceptive, he is," Yoda chuckled, climbing down to size up Luke. "Indeed, a good friend. Bigger than I expected are you. A youngling you were, when I saw you last."

"I don't think I've ever met you," Luke said uncertainly, suddenly glad that Solo had accompanied him.

"Not remember, do you? Only one to stop your crying, was I! Other duties, I leave to Obi Wan." He wrinkled his nose at the memory and laughed again.

"You gonna be okay, Kid?" Solo asked softly. For a Jedi master, the little green guy seemed pretty weird, but then again so had the old man.

"Prepared for training are you?" Yoda asked, "But where is your companion? Two of you, I expected."

"Leia?" Luke looked down at the ground sadly. "She wouldn't come with us. I tried…"

Yoda shook his head. "Grave danger, she puts herself in. Reckless and headstrong is she." He looked up at Luke. "An inherited trait this is."

"What can I do to help her?" Luke asked desperately.

"Train you must." Yoda stamped his walking stick against the ground. "A Jedi Knight you must become."

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Leia slipped her ship into one of the many caves that dotted the mountainside. As a schoolgirl, she'd learned about the rich history of the mountain range, which divided the temperate high desert from the lake region that extended towards the coast. It was a haven for guerillas and terrorists over the millennia, nearly impenetrable in the winter and pockmarked with caves that extended for kilometers into the solid rock. More recently, the base of the mountains had been redeveloped into resorts, with some hardy vacationers making the long technical climb to the summits to gaze out across the open wilderness.

Pulling out the torch and macrobinoculars that Lando had stashed away in the small stowage area of the ship, Leia peeked around in the darkness. The cold stone floor of the cave was slippery with gravel, and she could hear a dripping sound echoing off the gray walls. She had flown the ship as far back into the cave as she could without banging the hull against the walls or ceiling, and powered it down completely as an extra precaution against discovery. Shivering in the damp cool air, she wrapped her arms around herself and breathed deeply.

"I'm home," she thought. "I'm home."

Pressing her back against the wall of the cave, she crept towards the mouth. It was cloudy at this elevation, and chilly even though the summer solstice was approaching. Outside, she could hear a raptor calling out as it hovered in an air current, watching for rodents scampering in the rocks below. A few hardy mountain wildflowers poked up between the boulders, but she was far above the shelter of the tree line. She lifted the macrobinoculars up, surveying the terrain below her. There was little to see besides plant life and a few birds. Suddenly she stopped and whipped her view back towards the base of a large tree. A pile of five small rocks leaned against the bark, two larger stones sandwiching a smaller one in the middle.

Wracking her brain, Leia thought back to the years she'd spent as Alderaan Scout as a child. One large rock and one small rock together marked a trail. Two small rocks and a large one pointed towards…well, a place to do your business. And five rocks meant...shelter.

Retrieving her weapons, Leia opted to investigate. It could be some remnant from a long ago camping trip, but perhaps she wasn't the only one seeking shelter in the infamous mountain range. She scrambled down the steep slope, wincing as the sharp rocks scratched her hands and back when she lost her footing and slid down feet first. From the first rock pile, she spotted a second near an outcropping of boulders and crept quietly through the scattered trees, constantly checking over her shoulder. She walked around the side of the rock pile and saw a small opening, just big enough for human to crawl through. Five rocks sat next to it in the same configuration. Holding her blaster, she crawled inside.

Immediately a hand clapped over her mouth, and she swung her elbow back, freeing herself as her assailant grunted. She pointed the blaster into the darkness.

"Where did you get that?" an incredulous voice asked, and a light flipped on behind her, illuminating the small cavern. An unshaven man, his clothes brown with dirt, stood in front of her with his hands up.

"Who are you?" she demanded, looking behind her to see the source of the light. She slid back against the wall of the cave as four more people walked in, each as grimy as the man in front of her.

"My name's Jame," he said, nervously eyeing the blaster. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I was just on guard duty and wasn't expecting anyone to come in."

She lowered the blaster, keeping her hand on the trigger. "What is this place?"

"Doesn't really have a name or anything," Jame told her. "We're all just refugees." Looking again at the blaster, he gestured for her to follow him, heading through a narrow passageway fifty meters back into the cave. One of the others who had joined him knocked a staccato pattern on a boulder blocking their path, and it rolled back, revealing a well-lit chamber that extended as far as Leia could see.

The cave was full of beings: humans, Caamasi, and a few offworlders from Duros. Campsites were arranged in a ring around a central cooking area, with some families in pitched tents while others had the remnants of bedrooms set up ringed by currents rigged up on poles for privacy. A pair of children dashed past. One of them glanced up at Leia, fixating on her scar before running away whimpering as she noticed the blaster. Embarrassed at frightening the girl, Leia tucked the blaster into her pocket.

"Where did you come from?" Jame asked, as he nodded in greeting to an older woman sitting at a makeshift table near the cooking area.

"Um, Aldera, originally," Leia said, surprised that he didn't recognize her. Then she remembered her reflection in the mirror on the Falcon- sunken eyes and cheeks, scarred and bruised. She had hardly recognized herself.

"Most of us are from the south," Jame told her. "It's a long way to come from Aldera. How long have you been traveling?"

"Long enough," Leia sighed.

"You should come meet Kita Sulaan," he said, pointing towards the woman he had acknowledged a moment earlier. "We elected her head of our…group, I guess you could say."

Kita smiled widely as they approached the table where she sat looking at a datapad. "Well isn't this an incredible surprise," she said, standing and giving Leia a deep curtsey. "I suppose, as they say, rumors of your demise were greatly exaggerated, your Highness."


	25. Chapter 25

"How long do you intend to stay on Alderaan, Lord Vader?" The Emperor looked at Vader suspiciously across the holographic connection. "It hardly seems worth your time."

"I believe my…child will be coming here, my master," Vader responded, keeping his language vague to try to allay any more of the Sith's suspicions without actually lying to his face.

"The Force has shown you this?"

"Yes, my master."

"Then carry on." Palpatine reached over and shut off the connection, grimacing at his guards. His apprentice had grown more wayward since the Endor incident, as the Empire had taken to calling the destruction of their death machines, and the old Sith noticed a sliver of anxiety invading his thoughts. What was Vader plotting now? By revealing the existence of his son, Palpatine had hoped to bring the fallen Jedi into line, giving him a reason to obey lest the Emperor order the boy killed. The possibility of turning young Luke to the Dark Side was an added incentive—perhaps he would prove more loyal than his treacherous father.

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After Luke reassured him multiple times that he was fine staying with the old Jedi master, Solo walked back to the Falcon, waving to Chewie to lower the boarding ramp. He climbed aboard and took one last look around before lifting the freighter gently up through the fog.

"I dunno, Chewie," he said as they headed for open space. "Guy didn't look a Jedi to me."

Chewbacca gave an interrogatory bark.

"Short, real short. And green. I've never seen the species before. Said his name was Yoda."

The Wookiee grinned, baring his teeth and rowfing.

"You know the guy, huh? So he's legit. Okay then." Han checked the navicomputer and then flipped the display to review the fuel levels. "So where shall we spend the next three weeks?"

Chewbacca pointed to a point on the map. "My thinking exactly."

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"You have no idea how your presence is going to lift spirits here," Kita said to Leia as she led her through the cavern. "When we heard the reports that you had been killed, all of Alderaan mourned."

"When did the Empire arrive?" Leia wanted to know.

"There was a general evacuation sounded when the Empire's space station appeared," Kita told her. "Everyone who was able fled the planet. A few hours later, the space station left. It was chaos for a few days. There was looting, panic in the streets. No one knew what was going on. When your parents returned a few days later things calmed down, but the Empire followed soon after. Your father warned that the planet might be occupied though, so many people had time to flee the cities."

"And what now?"

"We have groups that infiltrate the cities regularly to drop off food supplies and get as much information as possible," Kita said, patting a young Caamasi boy on the head as he toddled past her. "Unfortunately the Holonet has been completely blocked, so we have no idea what's going on outside. The cities are completely besieged. Your parents are being held at the palace in Aldera as far as we know, but no one has seen them in more than a month."

Leia shuddered. "I have to get to them. This is all my fault."

"What do you mean, Princess?"

"I was the one who attracted the attention of the Empire," she confessed quietly. "I was…I was helping the Rebels. I was the reason the Death Star came."

Kita gave her a long look, then drew her into her arms.

"Child, you are not responsible for the atrocities of the Empire." She gave a small smile. "Emperor Palpatine has hated us since long before you were born." An arm around Leia's shoulders, she guided the princess onwards. "Did you know that I was at university with your mother? Not in the same program of course: she studied government, naturally, and I went into theoretical quantum physics. I think she chose the more complicated course of study."

"She had a bit of a wild streak back then, though not very many people knew. I ran into her one night at a party that was being held in a field outside of town. She had colored her hair and put on enough makeup to drown a nerf so no one would recognize her. I knew her right away, of course, from her voice but everyone else was three sheets to the wind when she got there and had no idea. We danced until sunrise and then she stayed in my dorm room so her parents wouldn't know where she'd been."

Leia giggled in spite of herself, imagining her regal mother as a wild teenager. If she ever saw her parents again, at least now she had something to hold over Breha's head if she was scolded for her reckless mission.

"Do you have any children, Kita?"

"Two sons," she said proudly. "One is a doctor at Aldera Universal Medcenter, and the other…"she leaned in close, "is a mechanical engineer for the Alliance." Standing back up, she patted the princess on the back. "So I owe you a personal debt of gratitude for your efforts on their behalf."

They had reached the rear of the cavern, where a tent was leaned against the rough stone wall. Kita slipped in and held open the flap for Leia to follow.

A young man sat in front of a primitive radio, headphones on as he tapped a code out on an old transponder.

"This is Farn, our resident communications geek and all around tech wizard," Kita introduced him. "Farn, this young lady would like to be part of the next mission to Aldera. What have you been hearing?"

"Nothing good," Farn said glumly. "It sounds like there's about to be another repatriation, and apparently some high level Imp arrived a couple of days ago and is sticking around. Trying to find out more…"

"What does that mean, repatriation?" Leia asked nervously.

"We're not sure exactly what's going on, but every couple of weeks the Empire has been sending in ships with Alderaanis who escaped and returning them to the planet," Kita told her.

"Are they okay?"

"So far they've all been dead."

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The night shift had just started, and Vader passed a line of stormtroopers heading to the bunk space that had been established in the palace's ballroom. He'd heard that Alderaan was a popular assignment for the rank and file soldiers, with a relatively docile populace, temperate atmosphere, and comfortable living arrangements. The sound of raucous laughter erupted from the makeshift barracks, and for a brief moment he allowed himself a bittersweet memory of being a soldier himself, cherishing the camaraderie of dedication towards a common, attainable goal.

He softened his footsteps as he passed by the door to the ballroom, not wanting to disturb the men and then walked past the empty dining room towards a long, twisting staircase that led down into the family area of the palace.

General Rholar, who was assigned to manage the Imperial occupation of Alderaan, had given Vader a briefing packet that included a layout of the palace upon his arrival. The rooms had all been searched thoroughly, with little effort made towards cleaning up the mess after nothing incriminating had been found. Holding the map, Vader made his way down to a comfortable den fitted with an enormous holoproj. The walls had been covered with paintings and holos that were ripped down as the stormtroopers tore through the residence. Carefully, Vader picked them up one of the frames, looking down at the Organa family portrait from several years previous.

Leia must have been ten or eleven in the picture, smiling prettily between Bail and Breha. Her hair was braided and trussed elaborately around her head, and briefly Vader wondered how they had gotten the girl to sit still long enough to construct the style. Her cheeks were still childishly round, her eyes bright—a perfect mix, he thought, of his own doll-like features and Padme's dark beauty. How had he been so blind? He found another picture, this one just of Leia, posing on top of one of the flying beasts so prized by Alderaani society. The wind whipped through her hair, and she looked straight ahead, leaning down as if she was urging her steed to go faster.

Then his mind flashed to when he had seen his daughter, beaten and broken, close to death after Tarkin's ill-planned interrogation and the torture he inflicted on her. She had survived to fight another day, he reminded himself. Just like her father.

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Kita had left her with Farn for a briefing on the missions to Aldera, and the youth had lit up with excitement when she told him about the supplies she left back in the other cave.

"Six blasters," she counted on her fingers, "A protocol droid, some food, a couple of emergency flares." Purposefully, she opted not to mention the lightsaber.

"And a ship?" he said.

"Well, yes, but I don't know if it will be much use trying to sneak into the city."

"True. But it's good to know about."

They organized a small team to hike back up to the cave and retrieve the supplies. Leia led them towards the Headhunter and popped open the storage hatch, yanking hard to free Threepio from the cramped space and turning him back on.

"Your Highness," he said as his lights came on, "I'm afraid I'm in desperate need of an oil bath."

The young men turned to stare at her. "No way!" one of them whispered. "Princess Leia? I thought you were dead!"

"It would be helpful to maintain that impression with as many people as possible," she said sternly, handing him one of the blasters.

"What happened to your neck?" another asked, and then remembered his manners. "Um, your highness?"

"A bit of a burn," Leia said vaguely, not wanting to get into details. "Let's get the stuff and get out of here, all right?"

They made their way back down the mountainside, Threepio fussing much of the trip, and slipped back into the cave. A woman gave them a hard look as she saw the weaponry.

"I just don't know that it's appropriate," she said to Kita as Leia and her companions made their way back to the makeshift communications tent. "What's the point of beating back the Empire if we lose our souls in the process?"

"We have to be realistic," Kita argued. "Having some protection might make it easier for our teams to get in and out?"

"But if the Empire finds illicit weapons? You remember what happened when they discovered the hidden fuel tanks? Blasters would be far worse."

Leia overheard the conversation. "What happened with the fuel tanks?" she asked.

"It was in Terrarium City. They'd been losing power and so one of the resistance groups from the far end of the valley snuck in some fuel tanks. When they were discovered…" Kita trailed off for a moment, composing herself. "They emptied five city blocks of every adult and brought them all out to a field. Then they made every count off by fives, and shot every fifth person. They made the survivors dig the graves."

Leia turned deathly pale. "No…." Sinking to her knees, she held her head in her hands, breathing hard. "No, no, no." She looked up at the group of youth examining the blasters. "We leave the weapons here."

They planned to leave the next morning at dawn, following a hidden network of tunnels to the edge of the lake. From there, they would hike around the lakeside under the cover of the trees and meet up with another group of partisans that had access to freight transport. The Imperials had been using surface based freight speeders to move the limited food supplies from the Aldera spaceport to the surrounding cities, and Farn's group had been successful in infiltrating the group of freighter drivers pressed into service. Their contact arranged his route so the group could hop aboard, distributing contraband to residents trapped in the city before fleeing back out the way they came.

Kita invited Leia to join her in her sleeping space that evening as they sat down for a meal around the large communal table. The families took turns cooking and serving the meager food supplies. Leia gratefully accepted a bowl of stew from a woman who smiled shyly as she recognized the princess.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, Princess," Kita said as they slurped up the hot nerf meat, "But you don't look well. Are you sure you shouldn't take a few days to rest?" To prove her point, Kita walked back to her space and grabbed a small mirror.

Leia examined herself critically. The marks on her face were faced, but the shadows of bruises were still visible on her pale skin. Her eyes were ringed with deep, dark circles, and she noticed a hint of sickly yellow tainting the whites. The scar on her neck was still bright red, showing no signs of fading. She put the mirror down.

"I have to. It's going to take days to get there as it is. Once I get to the palace, maybe we can find a way to drive the Empire away."

Kita smiled at her. "You've always been an optimist. I remember that from your Senate campaign."

That night, as the lights were turned out and the only sounds were the quiet shuffling of the night guards going their rounds, Leia lay awake, staring into the inky blackness. The sound of screams from lives so cruelly extinguished haunted her. The Empire will pay, she thought, taking comfort in the feeling of raw power that pulsed in her. They will pay.


	26. Chapter 26

Kita gently nudged Leia's shoulder to wake her up. She sat up with a start in the dim light, gripping the edges of the little cot.

"Shh, shh…" Kita said soothingly as Leia remembered where she was and relaxed visibly. "It's early. I thought you should have something to eat before you go."

They walked together to the cooking area at the center of the room, where a balding man warmed an enormous pot of water over an old fashioned fuel canister. Leia kept her steps light, seeing that most of the occupants of the cave were either still sleeping or just starting to wake. In one corner, two young mothers sang softly as they nursed their infants. One had an older boy with her, perhaps three or four years old, who hid his face in his mother's shirt as Leia smiled at him.

"How many people are here?" she whispered to Kita, taking the warm mug of coffee that the man passed to her and blowing the steam from the top.

"Only ninety-six in this cave," Kita told her. "There is another deeper in the mountains with more than three hundred people hiding. Honestly I'm not sure how they manage."

Leia sipped her drink, nearly groaning with pleasure at the taste of the sweet, smoky liquid on her tongue. Alderaan, home to the galaxy's most famous culinary school, was also renowned—or sometimes mocked—for its obsession with good coffee. She had barely been able to tolerate the thin, bitter brew the Alliance passed off as a morning beverage in its mess halls, and drank it only when she was so desperate for a jolt that she could ignore the taste. It made her smile to think that, even in a damp cold cave hiding from an overwhelming planetary invasion force, Alderaanis still knew what was important—and that included coffee.

"Our next group of young people is off to Aldera this morning," Kita told the man staffing the kitchen. He made a gesture that Leia recognized as a blessing from a medium sized religious sect based in the Coro Valley region, and she nodded in gratitude. "Do you have something we can send with them for breakfast?"

Farn and two other young men he introduced as Nantasiano—"Si for short" and Tantur joined them as the man took a bag and loaded it with food; tree fruits from the orchards in Carsen province, muffins, nerf jerky.

"Don't forget we're walking," Farn told him, looking askance at the overloaded bag. "We don't get transport until we reach the north end of the lake."

"You'll need your strength," he responded paternally, adding a final packet of hard crackers on top and handing the packs to the young men. Leia leaned over and picked one up, not wanting to be coddled because of her status or her gender. "You boys take care of this young lady, all right?"

"Yessir," Farn said. "Ready to go?"

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Gripping torches, the four young Alderaanis hiked through the cavern, See-Threepio tottering behind them. Leia had insisted on bringing him over Farn's objections, not telling her companions that she intended to part ways with them when they reached Aldera and would need the droid to help her break into the palace.

"The Empire doesn't allow anyone to have droids," Farn told her as they walked.

"Perhaps it would be better if I remained behind at the camp," Threepio spoke up. Leia was grateful that he had taken well to her instruction to stop referring to her as "Your Highness," to try to preserve some level of anonymity. Si and Tantur knew who she was, but they were young enough to have a skeptical view of authority generally and were perfectly happen to honor her request to treat her like anyone else. The fewer people who knew who she was when they reached the city, the better for everyone.

"I need your help, Threepio," Leia hissed at him. "You're coming. We'll find a safe place for you to hide when we get to the city. The Empire won't know you're there."

"Oh dear oh dear."

They hiked along in silence for a while, stopping briefly to eat some of the massive pile of food they carried in their packs. Leia used the break to double check that she still had the lightsaber concealed safely in the bottom of her bag. As planned, they left the blasters behind, but there was no way she was going to a hive of Imperials without some sort of protection.

"So…," Tantur spoke up, getting sick of the quiet. "What have you been up to for the last few months, Leia? Everybody thought you were dead."

"I was taken prisoner by the Empire but I got away," she said briefly. "I crash landed on a planet out in the Outer Rim and it took me a while to find a way off."

"Whoa. Crazy."

"Yeah." In her few months of solitude, and time with the Imperial Senate before that, Leia had almost forgotten what it was like spending time with boys her own age. She found herself unimpressed. Idly she wondered how Han, Luke, and Chewbacca had reacted to her disappearance. She was sure they would have figured out that she had followed through on her plan to take a ship from Lando to come to Alderaan. Realizing she felt oddly guilty about the circumstances of her departure, she pushed the thought from her mind and focused on her current mission.

Trouble was, she wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do when they got to Aldera. She envisioned breaking into the palace and finding her parents, but then what? Would they flee? Fight? Hide? Remembering the story about the executions outside Terrarium City, she resolved that she would neither flee nor hide. She would drive the Empire from Alderaan, or die trying. That issue settled, she decided she would survey the situation on the ground before she determined exactly how she would carry out her goal.

"So you know anything 'bout what's going on out in the galaxy?" Si continued. "You know, like…nah, probably not."

"I did had some time to catch up on things before I got here," Leia told him. "What do you want to know about?"

"Okay then—how are the Rampa Rancors doing? Did they make the semifinals?"

In the dim light, Leia was glad he couldn't see her roll her eyes.

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"Good, good."

Yoda placed his hands on Luke's shoulders as the young man sat cross-legged on the ground, rocks lifting off the ground in a pattern around him.

"Gently now, set them down." The rocks quivered as Luke struggled to maintain control, a few of them settling slowly to the ground while the rest crashed down.

"How was that?" Luke asked, opening his eyes.

"Pilot you are," Yoda responded, "If flying were you, how rank this landing would you?"

"Fair enough." Luke stood, brushing the dirt from the back of his pants. "Should I try again?"

"Try? No, try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try."

Sighing, Luke sat back down. "Okay."

"Elsewhere your mind is," Yoda said sternly. "Focus on the present, a Jedi does."

"I'm sorry, Master, I just.."

"No!" Yoda smacked his walking stick into the ground in front of Luke. "Excuses you will not make. Up." With a surprisingly lithe jump, the little Jedi leapt onto Luke's back. "Run."

Two hours later, Luke collapsed against the side of the mud hut that Yoda called home, the exertion having been successful on focusing his mind away from everything but his aching muscles. He had been distracted, he admitted to himself. Even though he'd only known her in person for a short time, Princess Leia haunted him. For two months, ever since he'd found the holographic message begging for help, he'd held her on the type of pedestal reserved for beautiful martyrs in his mind. Like the rest of the Rebels, he believed she had died at the hands of the Empire, and he hovered around the edges of the memorials her friends had held, wanting to know more about the intriguing girl.

When she had shown up, alive and relatively well, he was thrilled to find she was a kindred spirit—as if the Force had conspired to bring them together. That was why her departure was so heartbreaking. Even untrained, he could tell she had incredible potential in the Force, and he envisioned them as a team fighting the Empire with power of righteousness on their side. He tried suppress the hate he felt towards the Empire for what they had done to her, sending her into such a spiral of fear and despair that the Dark Side gripped her tighter and tighter, leaving her to think there were no other options. If only she had come with him to Dagobah.

"In you the Dark Side is as well," Yoda spoke up. Luke had become accustomed to the Jedi's ability to read his thoughts, though he tried hard to quiet his mind as the master instructed. "In all of us, it is."

"So how do you keep it from destroying you?" Luke asked, remembering the cautionary tale of Darth Vader that Ben had recounted.

"Awareness and intention," Yoda said, tottering over to Luke's side. "Think not of how you act. Think why you act. Always seek peace, must you."

"But why do Jedi carry weapons, then?" Luke wanted to know. "Ben….Master Kenobi said that Jedi are not supposed to feel anger, or aggression. So why fight?"

"Good questions you have for a young one," Yoda said. "Debate these questions, many Jedi Masters have. Have the answers, I do not."

Luke found himself growing exasperated. "So what am I supposed to do then? What's the point of training if I'm not going to fight the Empire?"

Yoda squeezed his eyes shut, breathing deeply.

"Meditated have I for many years now," he said finally. "The perfect Jedi you think I am? Humph." Luke cocked his head, wondering where the lecture was going. "Anger have I felt, rage and fear. Yes. Obstinate have I been, it may surprise you to know, young Skywalker." Luke saw the sparkle in the old Jedi's eyes and smiled at the small joke.

"Since before I was born were Jedi always trained the same way. At the temple, younglings were raised. No families they had—only the Jedi. Forbidden were attachments. Feared we did the threat of individual attachments, of life outside the study of the Light Side of the Force. Yes, young Skywalker….feared. Only younglings would we take, soon after birth, before corrupted they could become. Once took an older boy we did, so powerful was he. But adjust our training protocols, we did not, so stubborn were we. Make him deny love, deny family we did." Yoda looked down at the ground. "Fell to the Dark Side, did he?"

"Vader?" Luke asked quietly. Yoda nodded in assent.

"But what does that mean for me?"

"Fear is fear," Yoda responded, "Whether fear of the unknown, or fear of fearing the unknown. Understand this, we Jedi did not. Accept the Dark Side, you must. Let it rule you, you must not. And deny yourself out of fear of the Dark Side, you must not."

Luke pondered for a moment, trying to absorb the Jedi's words. "Tell me about Vader," he insisted.

Yoda grimaced. "Powerful Jedi was he, and well loved. Dedicated to the Order was he. But fell under Palpatine's influence, he did. Gave him what we would not, the Emperor did."

"What do you mean? What could Palpatine have offered a Jedi?" Luke was confused.

"Many secrets he kept because of the Jedi Code. Forbidden to love we were. But powerful is love, even more powerful than the Force. This, Palpatine knew. Knew it, the Jedi did not."

"So he was in love? With who? What happened?" Luke's curiosity about the enigmatic Dark Lord had been piqued. For so long, he'd seen him as a heartless machine, hellbent on carrying out the Emperor's campaign of death. This was a side of Vader about which he was shocked to hear.

"A young woman he met as a child. Shared his love, she did. Send him to the Emperor, her death did. Took a name of the Sith and destroyed the Jedi in his grief and rage, he did. Now only we remain, you and I."

Luke rested his chin against his knees. "Who was he before he became a Sith?"

Yoda looked at him for a long time, and finally closed his eyes, sighing. "Anakin Skywalker, his name was."

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Leia was glad when the boys got into an argument over the relative merit of two different video game systems, allowing her to hike in silence while they bickered trying to outdo each other with their knowledge of technical capabilities. Her calves ached from the steep downslope they'd been following for the last few kilometers, and she was relieved as the path flattened out and she could see a hint of sunlight ahead.

"Almost there," Farn said, "And I've got a surprise for you all. Didn't want to tell Kita."

"What is it?" asked Leia, intrigued as they emerged blinking into the bright afternoon. The lakeshore sparkled invitingly in front of them, and Leia was suddenly tempted to whip off her boots and dip her aching feet in the cool water.

"Shh….c'mere." Farn led them around a bushy patch of tall weeds and pulled aside a pile of tree branches. "Check. It. Out."

Leia almost laughed aloud when she saw what was concealed under the plants. An old landspeeder, dating back further than the Clone Wars and covered with dents and rust, sat on the ground parked nose first in the brush.

"That's…nice," she said, wondering what Farn planned to do with the old thing. Surely it couldn't actually run?

"Just wait." Farn pulled open the top with a yank, not bothering with keys or controls, and hopped into the driver's seat, brushing the dead leaves off the passenger seat next to him.

"Shotgun!" yelled Si, hopping in next to his friend.

"Don't you think we should let her…." Farn started, but Leia held up a hand.

"It's fine." She watched as Tantur clambered into the seat behind Farn. "It runs?"

"You bet!" Farn fiddled with some wires under the steering controls and the landspeeder coughed to life, the repulsors activating unevenly so that it rocked back and forth as it hovered a meter off the ground. "So, you coming?"

As regally as possible, Leia opened the rear door and climbed in, fastening her safety belt as she dropped her bag on the floor in front of her, scooting over to make room for Threepio next to her.

"We'll have to take the long way around," Farn told her as her raised the roof back over them and they set off, "But it's better than walking. Kita wouldn't want us using the fuel, but we can get some more from Mich when he picks us up in the freighter."

"Mich? What's his last name?" Leia asked.

"Dunno. Why?"

"I knew a Mich in Aldera," Leia told him. "I wonder if it's him."

"Well, we'll find out soon enough. Hang on!" With a whoosh, Farn lifted them out of the bushes and carefully picked his way through the breaks in the trees where the mountain met the flat land near the shore.

"I came prepared," said Si with a wink. Clearly he'd been in on the secret. He grabbed his bag and pulled out an old fashioned optical disc, sliding it into the port in the dashboard. Immediately music came blasting from the speakers.

"You okay with all this?" Farn said, glancing back over his shoulder as the other two boys bopped their heads and danced in their seats.

"I'm fine," said Leia. She didn't admit it to her parents, but she had secreted a few albums from the Pulsar Freaks in the apartment she shared with her father on Coruscant, occasionally blasting them when she returned home alone at the end of a particularly frustrating day. Especially since they'd replaced their lead singer with a powerfully voiced woman from Bandomeer who steered the groups lyrics more towards angry feminism, she thought, catching herself tapping her foot to the pulsing beat. Tantur smiled at her.

"My parents would ground me for life if they knew about this," she thought with some amusement, "Riding around in a speeder with three strange boys listening to punk music and plotting to sneak past an armed blockade." For a moment she let herself forget about the last few months, the agony of torture and loss and oppression, and just watched the tall conifers whip by in a blur out the window.

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It had been many years since Solo and Chewbacca had visited Rendili, on the Corellian Trade Spine just a hop away from Solo's home planet. It had become a drydock for the Victory-class star destroyers that were such a nuisance for Rebels and smugglers alike, making it a particular bold location for the small Alliance base that to which they were being driven by a dour faced Lowen woman.

Some unidentified Rebel had spotted his ship as they landed in a small spaceport near the town of Eerksgur-Ro and the Lowen was waiting for them with a code transmitter as they exited their docking bay. Friendly at first, she became confused when Solo insisted that he no longer had any Rebels with him aboard the Falcon.

"You were on Yavin," she repeated. "All the departing ships were supposed to load up. What happened to your passengers?"

"I wasn't really officially part of the evac," Solo said. "I'm just a contractor."

"Well, I'm still under orders to bring you back to the safe house," she responded grimly, clearly annoyed at being sent on an errand to fetch pilots who were less than dedicated to the Alliance cause. "All right?"

"Do we have a choice?" Solo looked meaningfully at the blasters hanging from her hips.

"I'm not kidnapping you. Commander Antilles asked to see you."

"Wedge is here?" She nodded. "Good. I'd like to see him too then. I have a thing or three to discuss with him."

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Farn stopped the speeder near the ancient rotting stump of one of the gargantuan trees that marked the transition of the coniferous forest of the Juran mountains to the rolling hills of the high plains outside Aldera. The passengers climbed out and helped pull branches and leaves over their vehicle.

"From here we walk," Farn said, helping Leia slip her pack on. "You still want to bring the droid? He could stay here and guard the speeder."

"I need him," she insisted, and waved for Threepio to climb out. Clearly he'd been hoping for guard duty.

"Is it much farther?" she wondered, noticing that the shadows on the ground were growing with the approach of twilight.

"Probably two more hours of walking?" Farn guessed. "Are you doing okay? We can stop and eat if you need."

"I ate while we were driving," she told him. "But won't it be getting dark?"

"Yeah. We need to keep the torches off for the last bit, so the Imps don't see us. Don't worry- just stick close to me. It's all flat from here."

Breathing deeply, Leia plunged into the grass after him. It'll be fine, she thought. We're just going to walk through the dark past a bunch of stormtroopers, that's all. No problem. Trembling, she tried to push away the image of stormtroopers as they surrounded her in her cell on the Death Star, dead faced and silent behind their masks as she screamed and tried to fend off the blows from their batons and rifle butts with her bound hands. Willing herself to focus on the plains stretching ahead of them, she held her hands tightly against her sides to still them.

For all their bravado, Leia could tell her companions were growing nervous too as the sun slipped behind the mountains and the darkness swallowed them. The stars appeared, one by one, the constellations comforting familiar, but their light did little to illuminate the sea of grass ahead of them. On the horizon, Leia could see the faint glow of the lights of Aldera. She resisted the temptation to grab Farn's hand, and for a fleeting moment found herself wishing Han Solo was there with her. He seemed so much more self-assured than these boys who were thrust into a war they didn't understand and didn't want. Even Luke, or Chewbacca, though she suspected the Wookiee really didn't like her. For lack of anything better, she slowed her pace to allow the droid, who'd been warned to keep silent, to catch up with her. She grabbed his arm and walked on.

Suddenly two pairs of lights shot across the plains several hundred meters in front of them, disappearing as they curved away towards the lights of the city.

"There's the highway," Farn whispered. "There's a closed rest stop just ahead. That's where we get our ride."

Without lights, they had to feel their way along the gravel shoulder of the speeder highway and nearly smacked face first into one of the outbuildings of the rest stop. Farn fiddled with a locked door, popping it open and pushing Si inside first to check for intruders before guiding Leia, Tantur, and Threepio into the cramped space.

Shutting the door behind him, Farn finally illuminated one of the torches.

"Okay!" he said, taking a deep breath. "Now we wait. Mich should be here within the hour."


	27. Chapter 27

Luke had sat silently for a long time after Yoda's revelation, and then stood and walked into the woods. Yoda hobbled back into his hut, cooking dinner and hoping he'd made the right decision. He'd had many conversations with his former apprentices who were particularly interested in the fate of Anakin's children about this very moment, and they had not come to conclusion about the best way to break such news. In his old age, Yoda sometimes wondered if the Jedi who joined him at night were in fact real spirits, or just figments of the memories he'd collected in nearly 900 years of life. But Obi Wan looked so old, he could not simply be imagined. The years in the desert before his death were not kind to the Jedi.

Dusk came, and Yoda looked up as Luke made his way back into the hut. Without comment, Yoda handed him a bowl of stew and then sat down on the floor next to the boy.

"Your father you are not," Yoda said finally.

"Obi Wan said Vader killed my father," Luke said, his voice low and accusing.

"Not ready for the burden were you," Yoda responded. "Never ready. But needed to know, did you. Confront him, you will."

"Confront my own father?" Luke stood, forgetting the hut was barely high enough to accommodate him on his knees. He bashed his head against the ceiling and dropped back down rapidly, brushing dirt out of his hair. "Dammit."

"It is your destiny. That is why you must train."

"My destiny? I thought you said that kind of rigid thinking was what destroyed the Jedi."

"Not of my choosing is your destiny," Yoda retorted, "Only say what I see in the Force, do I."

"But what am I supposed to do when I confront him?" Luke asked, tears threatening to return to his eyes. "Kill him?"

"Only as a trained Jedi will you know where the Light Side guides you," Yoda said somberly.

"Fine." Ducking this time, Luke stood and walked out of the hut. "Let's get back to training then."

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Wedge looked more haggard than Solo ever remembered. He sat behind a desk made up of two sawhorses and an old metal door, sorting papers and glancing down at an old datapad.

"Solo! Chewbacca!" With a tired smile, Wedge got up to shake hands. "Glad to see you made it."

"How bad was it?" Solo asked, surprised by the usually buoyant pilot's demeanor.

"We lost a lot of people, and equipment," Wedge told him. "We're still sorting things out." He paused. "They got Rieekan. And both Leia and Luke are missing."

"Leia and Luke were with me," Han told him, and the other Corellian brightened. "They were? Where are they now?"

"Well, Luke had some mystical Jedi vision and insisted that I drop him on some planet to train with this supposed Jedi master. I think he's fine- I'm supposed to pick him up in a few weeks."

"What about the princess?"

"She…took off," Han said finally. "Pretty sure she made a break for Alderaan. I tried to stop her…"

"Only so much you can do with that girl," Wedge said with a wry smile. He must have had some experience.

"Thought I might try to give her a hand," Han added. "That's why we're here."

"You want to go to Alderaan?" Wedge asked incredulously. "Do you know if Leia even made it?"

"If anyone was going to, it would be her," Han told him. "But I don't know what she thinks she's going to do when she gets there. I'm sure she could use some backup."

"Thought you were planning on washing your hands of the Alliance?" Wedge pressed.

"I am." Han reddened slightly. "She just, uh, well she owes me for trashing my ship and I didn't want to let her get off scot free."

"I see." Wedge turned around. "Well, as it happens, if you don't mind trading out your ship for a while, there may be an option for you…."

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There was enough room in the empty supply closet for the four human occupants to sit down, keeping the droid in the center. Leia had switched him off, sensing that his presence was annoying her companions. The disused room must have once been used for storing cleaning supplies, the dusty walls vaguely redolent of bleach and window cleaner. Leia breathed into her sleeve, trying to block out the smells that reminded her so clearly of her imprisonment.

"Shh…" Farn held up a hand, hearing a large speeder approach. Holding their breath, they listened for a minute. "It's not him," Farn finally mouthed. "He honks four times." Quickly, he turned out his light, hoping none of the illumination had broken through any spaces in the walls or roof.

Leia squeezed closer to Tantur as heavy footsteps clomped around the building. Farn hadn't locked the door behind them….

"You find anything?" she heard someone bellow, their voice muffled as if speaking into a microphone. Leia's eyes grew wide. Stormtroopers!

"Nah," someone else responded. "Think it's all locked up."

"Damn. I'm starving. What about a 'fresher?"

"Probably locked too. Just go here."

The four youth crinkled their noses in disgust as they heard the telltale sound of liquid flowing onto the ground just outside their hiding spot. Tantur poked Leia with a grin. "At least it's just number one." She was too scared to roll her eyes.

"C'mon, let's get going! We're due back." The other trooper grunted and Leia breathed a deep sigh of relief as the footsteps disappeared in the distance, followed by the sound of a speeder engine starting and then disappearing down the highway.

Farn flicked his light back on. "That was close."

"Eh," said Si waggishly, "When you gotta go, you gotta go, right?" Tantur sputtered and then burst out laughing. Farn, trying to show the princess that he was a responsible leader, resisted for a moment before he too started chuckling. Leia glared darkly at all of them.

"Do you have any idea," she hissed, "Of what would have happened if they had found us?"

Si puffed up his cheeks and made a rude—and very specific-noise at her, sending the boys into even more paroxysms of laughter. Watching them furiously, Leia crossed her arms, and then suddenly began weeping.

Guilty at the sight of the distressed girl, the boys quieted their laughter. "Sorry," said Farn, reaching out to touch her arm. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Leia lied, embarrassedly swiping at her eyes. How could she explain to them why she was crying? That she was mourning a girl who once upon a time, a long time ago, might have laughed at their stupid crude jokes. That she was mourning for them, ripped out of their extended childhoods and forced to risk their lives because of the wars and rivalries begun long before any of their births. They couldn't possibly understand.

The sound of another speeder, followed by four quick honks from the horn, saved her from any further discussion. Quickly, they jumped to their feet. Leia activated the droid, putting her hand over his mouth to remind him to be silent, and they ran through the dark and hopped into the truck's cargo area, pulling the door shut behind them as it whipped back onto the highway.

Two other passengers were already waiting for them when they hopped on board, sitting cross-legged in front of a pile of boxes marked "pasta."

"Farn, good to see you, man," one of them said, extending a hand to the young man. "What's with the droid?"

"Special delivery," Farn said as Leia helped get Threepio secure against the wall of the truck. "So what have we got tonight?"

"Mostly medical supplies." The man gestured to the boxes. "These need to get to Dr. Sulaan. His people are meeting us at the restaurant on the southeast corner of Oroboro Street and Panteer Boulevard. You're on that, Farn." Turning to Leia, he extended a hand. "I wasn't expecting a fourth this time. I'm Yun. We'll find a job for you."

Leia shook his hand. "Actually, I've got a job of my own. Once we're in the city, if you can just let me and my droid off…."

"I don't think taking the droid is a good idea," Yun told her. "They're forbidden for Alderaanis. You could be arrested."

"But he's got some information I need," Leia protested, wishing Threepio were even a little less ostentatious. "Can we disguise him?"

Yun just raised an eyebrow. "I don't know what your mission is, but I just can't let you do that. If you're captured it could threaten our whole operation."

Leia nodded understandingly. "Do you have a datapad I could borrow? I could download the information I need…"

"Let me check." Yun rapped on the small window to the driver's cabin. The truck pulled over and the little window slid open, a man's face appearing.

"What is it? We can't get too far behind schedule."

"This young lady needs a datapad to borrow," Yun said, pointing with a thumb at Leia. The driver stuck his head further through the door and squinted.

"By the gods! By the gods! Is it really you?"

"Hi, Mich." Leia smiled at the sight of her father's secretary.

"You know her?" Yun said, looking critically at Leia.

"As do you," said Mich, merging back onto the empty highway. "Yun, may I present Her Royal Highness, Princess Leia Organa."

"Hm." Yun took the surprise philosophically. "Well, that's not what I was expecting."

"Your Highness, what are you doing here?" Mich asked as he sped up to get the freighter back on schedule. "Your death was reported months ago. Where have you been?"

"Mich, I need to get to my parents," Leia told him. "That's why I brought the droid. He's got the codes for the," she lowered her voice, leaning towards the window, "southwest door."

"The palace is full of Imperial soldiers, Princess! Your parents would want you to stay away."

"No, Mich." Leia was firm. "I'm going to them. I have to."

"Then I'm coming with you."

"You can't." Leia gestured to the rest of the occupants of the cargo area. "You can't give up this truck route. How else will people in Aldera get food and medicine?"

"Please, Princess!"

"No. I have to do this myself." She held out her hand. "Give me a datapad and keep the droid with you. I'm sure you all can find a way to make him useful."

"All right, your Highness," Mich acceded. "But do me one favor?"

"Anything."

"If your father asks, tell him I tried to stop you."

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Since it was well past curfew, they dropped her at a safe house just outside the palace district. The guard pulled the door shut quickly and silently behind her, leading her down some stairs into a dusty root cellar. In one corner, a man lay on a cot, gritting his teeth as a woman dabbed antiseptic on a large slash across his cheek. Two young men held hands next to him, gripping small bags of belongings as they sat on the cold floor. In another corner, an Aqualish family huddled under blankets, trying to quiet a fussy baby.

"You're headed out in the morning?" the guard confirmed as he started back up the stairs. "Need anything before you go?"

"A cloak with a hood, if you've got one." He nodded.

"Go ahead and get some rest."

Ignoring him, Leia quietly padded over to the woman helping the injured man. He was biting down on a piece of cloth as she quickly whipped stitches through the broken skin.

"Anything I can do to help?" Leia asked, taking the man's hand and letting him squeeze her fingers.

"Sure," responded the woman wearily. "You know how to do stitches?" Leia nodded affirmatively, and the woman gestured into the dark hall. Looking back, Leia saw a line of people seated on the floor, clutching wounds.

"What happened?" Leia took the bottle of sanitizer and doused her hands.

"Bunch of Imps attacked a bread line." The man sitting on the floor closest to her said. Looking down, she could see he had a nasty gash on his arm. "We were just standing there and all of a sudden they came in swinging." Pouring out some antiseptic on a pad, Leia gestured him over and dabbed at the cut. "There was a young guy behind me, he started to fight back. They just shot him, right there in front of all the people." Silently, Leia threaded a needle and started to close his cut. The man sat stoically, but she knew the stitches had to burn.

"I'm sorry there aren't any painkillers," she said softly.

"That's okay, m'dear." She finished up and he examined her work. "You a nurse or something?"

"I've had some training in field medicine."

"Well, good job, young lady. Never thought that kind of skill would come in handy on Alderaan." He scooted over to make room for the next casualty.

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Morning came quickly. Leia had finally handed over her medical duties when her hands started shaking from fatigue, and she fell into a blissfully dreamless sleep propped up against the dusty cellar wall.

"Ready to get going?" The guard she recognized from the previous night kicked her boot with his foot, and she stood. He handed her a dark hooded cloak. "This work?"

"Thank you." She wrapped it around her shoulders and lifted the hood over her face, concealing her features in shadow. He led her up the steps and around a corner into the main floor of the house.

"The door is over there," he said, pointing past a window. "Make sure there aren't any Imps right outside when you go."

She slipped out the door into the morning sunshine, blinking. Around here, the street was starting to come to life. Unlike the Aldera she remembered though, there were few open shops and the people scurried around with their heads down instead of stopping for conversations with friends. Even the trash receptacles, decorated with metal work in the shape of plants and animals, had been ripped out, and bits of garbage floated down the street in the gentle breeze.

Leia checked the inside pocket of the cloak for her datapad and lightsaber before turning down a side street. The concealed entrance to the palace was a secret to nearly everyone—only the royal family and a few trusted staff knew its location. It led to a corridor that ran under the garden into a small safe room behind the main dining room. Her parents used to use a simple password, but insisted on changing it to a more complicated electronic code when they caught Leia sneaking in after curfew for the fourth time.

The crowds outside grew thicker as the morning progressed. Leia took a circuitous route to the palace, keeping off the main roads and away from the open spaces in the parks that were scattered around the city. As she strolled slowly up Hydenock Street, carefully keeping her head down, she heard a commotion ahead of her.

"Make way!" The pedestrians scattered to the far sides of the sidewalk as a phalanx of stormtroopers marched down the street, swinging rifles indiscriminately at anyone not quick enough to duck out of the way. Pressing back through the crowd on the street, Leia shoved herself up against a building, fighting a rising panic.

An open topped truck rolled behind them, and if she stood on her tiptoes, Leia could see people riding in the back, crammed in like Lamaredd sucker fish. They were in poor condition, most of them sporting black eyes or bleeding scalps. The truck rumbled to a stop, and the stormtroopers shoved the people out, surrounding them in the middle of the street.

A woman next to her gasped. "Joei!" she cried, waving desperately at a young man who turned at hearing his name, searching the crowd. Turning to Leia, she said, "I thought he got off planet." She began to push forward.

A tall, dark skinned man in a general's uniform was driven up in a speeder, and he stood next to the group of prisoners holding a flimsi in his hand. Leia's eyes went back to the encircled Alderaanis as she remembered Kita's comment about "repatriation." Her heart in her throat, she watched as the woman who had stood next to her reached the outer limits of the bystanders and tried to rush the stormtroopers. Two men grabbed her by the arms and held her back as she screamed viciously at the troops. They ignored her.

The Imperial general started to speak just as one of the prisoners collapsed. His companions dragged him back to his feet, and Leia caught a glimpse of his face as the group parted to give him air. She caught her gasp in the back of her throat.

"Carlist," she whispered, recognizing the Alliance general through the blood and bruises that covered his face. One eye was patched halfheartedly, and his head had been shaved.

The Imperial cleared his throat as the stormtroopers began shoving the prisoners in a line. "In the name of the Emperor, those gathered before you have been found to be traitors to the Empire. The sentence is death."

The bystanders were hushed as a few wails cut through the air. Leia shook as the stormtroopers raised their rifles and aimed. The Imperial general gave a satisfied smile and looked over the gathered crowd, catching Leia's eye briefly as he smirked.

Suddenly, one of the stormtroopers hollered, falling backwards as his blaster rifle exploded in his hands. A moment later, the air filled with a popping noise as the rest of the blasters burst, pitching the troopers to the ground and sending the Imperial general diving to the safety of his speeder.

As the sound subsided, the group of prisoners stared in confusion at the troopers before them, writhing on the ground and bleeding from wounds inflicted by the shrapnel of their destroyed weaponry. A quick thinking man near the front of the ground dashed forward, grabbing one of them by the arm.

"Run!" he yelled. Finally the crowd reacted, rushing the Imperials. The prisoners who were able to walk fled in all directions, and the rest were grabbed by their arms and legs and hustled away as the Imperials screamed for back up into their comlinks.

"Better get going, missy," an older woman said to Leia, who had collapsed back against the wall, exhausted. "They aren't going to be happy about that." Forcing herself upright, Leia took off at a dead run towards the palace.

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Vader stood watching the scene from a balcony of the palace, concealed from view from the street by a large fern. He knew they were bringing another load of expatriate prisoners home for execution today, but was uninterested in the festivities. He could sense his daughter was near, on the planet, and he was becoming impatient for her arrival. When he felt the burst of dark power in the Force a breath before the sound of screams and explosions, he knew his wait was coming to an end.

Peering out onto the street, he saw a cloaked figure break free of the crowd and tear towards the palace. Turning to head back inside, he smiled. Soon.


	28. Chapter 28

Pulling out the datapad, Leia crept up to the wall that divided a formerly busy thoroughfare from an outer garden in the palace compound. The entry was hidden, disguised to look like a traffic monitoring beacon. She pressed the button on her datapad that transmitted an electronic signal to the door controls, then opened a panel on the side of the metal box, typing in a passcode. She held her breath; it had been a long time since she used the hidden passageway. After a long five seconds, a bed of flowers a few meters away lifted gently, and Leia sprinted over, flipping open the trapdoor and slipping inside.

The hall was dusty from disuse, and Leia pressed her finger under her nose to keep from sneezing as she slid along the wall, checking the lightsaber under her cloak. The charred side of the hilt left black smudges on her hands, and Leia cringed when she saw the fingerprints she left behind as she crept through the dimly lit hall. There was no evidence that the Imperial troops occupying the residence knew about the passageway, but she hadn't gotten this far to lose everything through a moment of carelessness.

A small staircase led up into the main building, a second locked door blocking her way. This one only needed a passcode. Typing it in, Leia pulled the door open as silently as possible. She stepped into the safe room, taking a moment to breathe. The walls were soundproofed, but she wasn't fooled by the silence. She knew the palace was teeming with Imperial troops.

Heading over to a small computer terminal in the corner, she typed in her password and tried to pull up the security video feed. She held in a curse when the feeds showed nothing but static. For a terrifying moment, she thought the jamming was a sign that she had been discovered. Then she remembered that the videos transmitted over an emergency communications frequency, which was likely being jammed across the board. She was going to have to investigate the old fashioned way.

There were a limited number of exits from the safe room: it was intended more as a way to get out of the palace rather than in. There were entrances from her bedroom as well as her parents though, and that seemed like the best place for her to start her search. She unlocked the insulated door and tiptoed up the staircase that led to the living suites.

Unable to resist her curiosity, Leia stopped outside the door that led to her own room, peeking through the tiny peephole hidden behind her vanity mirror.

The room was trashed. Her bed was on its side, the mattress pulled off and ripped apart. Her clothes were strewn about, the drawers smashed apart and the debris stacked in a corner. The jewelry boxes were tipped over and empty, her art thrown to the ground and ripped from frames.

She ducked back suddenly when a shadow passed by the open door. Anyone in the room shouldn't have been able to see her, but she still pressed herself against the door and crawled down the hall towards her parents' space.

Swallowing hard, she raised herself up to look into their room. At first it looked empty, but some movement in the back corner caught her attention and she shifted to get a better view. It was her mother, huddled in a high backed chair. Leia froze, waiting to see if there would be any indication that Imperials were in the room before she made any more moves. She ducked again as someone paced across the room directly in front of her, then peeked back out tentatively. "Daddy…." she whispered.

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A few minutes after their eventful meeting with Vader, Bail and Breha had been escorted back to their quarters and once again left alone. They found themselves reminiscing, remembering better times as though their deaths could come at any moment. As far as Bail expected, they would. Vader had clearly been shocked by Breha's revelation, but soon that shock would turn to anger at the Organas for stealing his child. And no one who sparked Vader's anger lived for very long.

Bail looked up as he heard a slight rattling noise in the corner, near the hidden exit to the palace safe room. Several times he had tried to convince Breha to flee through the door, but she insisted on staying, worried that if the remaining royal family disappeared, the Imperials would harm or kill Alderaani civilians in retribution. Breha glanced over at the noise, assuming that the Imperials had finally discovered the secret tunnels at last.

The door cracked up, and Bail tilted his head, trying to get a better glimpse of who was coming out. Finally he decided he was done with games, and strode over to the door, yanking it open.

Breha heard her husband make an odd noise, somewhere between a choke and a sob. Jumping up, she ran to his side, falling to her knees as she saw her daughter standing before her; skinny, dirty, covered in scars. "Dear gods…" she choked as the door to the hall burst open behind them. "What have I done?"

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Captain Solo had never before had an actual argument with a droid, especially not one that he couldn't actually understand. But Artoo-Detoo's meaning was more than clear as Solo rolled him out of the Falcon, telling him that he was going to stay behind with the Rebels while he and Chewie joined a mission to Alderaan. Even the fact that Solo was leaving his beloved Falcon in Wedge's care did little to convince the droid that he was neither being abandoned nor sidelined. Finally Solo simply attached him to a computer terminal and told the woman staffing it that her future promotional potential depended on keeping the droid out of trouble. A practical person, she opted to attach a restraining bolt.

There were four of them going on the mission. In addition to Solo and Chewbacca, two Alderaani soldiers would sneak onto the planet in a stolen shuttle to deliver supplies and retrieve information about the Imperial presence there. Wedge, taking some liberties given his rank, had offered the Alderaani men his blessing to stay on the planet and help organize the resistance if they chose.

"You we need back," he told Solo and Chewie, "Plus the ship if at all possible."

The Imperials had been sending a steady supply of fuel and foodstuffs through the Aldera spaceport. A contractor who had been witness to one of the mass executions the Imperials staged of escaped Alderaanis had quietly defected in the middle of the chaos surrounding the Yavin evacuation, bringing a particular useful piece of equipment with him. The shuttle was called Recol V, and was not expected back for three standard weeks when the contractor made an unexpected comm call to an old friend who happened to be assigned as a mechanic to Rogue Squadron. Now the shuttle waited in the hangar on Rendili with its new crew and a fuel supply grudgingly donated by the Rebels to provide cover for the mission.

"So that's it?" Solo asked Wedge as they toured the cockpit, "We show up, we transmit the codes, we land? You're sure your guy is clean?"

"Coner vouched for him, and I have no reason to distrust his judgment," Wedge said matter-of-factly. "The shuttle is due at 0800 local time tomorrow. They apparently want someone to stay on board while the cargo gets unloaded and the crew gets their R&R, so that'll be a perfect job for Chewie."

"And when we hit the ground?"

"We've made some tentative contact with a fellow going by 'Thranta.' They've been having to use some pretty obsolete comms technology to keep things out of the Imps ears, but I think we've got a rendezvous set up. Tyman and Irrana will brief you during the jump over."

Solo leaned in. "And there's a few hours of free time built in too, right?"

"Yeah." Wedge gave him a sly, knowing smile. "You gonna hunt down the princess?"

"Well…" Solo stammered, embarrassed at Wedge's intimation. "It's not a good place for her, you know, and I already got paid for bringing her back to the Alliance. Finding her is part of my money back guarantee."

Wedge just grinned at him. "Alrighty, captain."

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Yoda sat awake, watching his apprentice laying quietly in the dreamless sleep of the exhausted. He slept little himself these days, finding that as his body grew weaker with age, the promise of eternal rest left him longing to catch a last glimpse of the corporeal world. Having the boy around gave him new strength, but the end was still inevitable, and Yoda knew that the day he would join his fellow Jedi in the Force was not far.

Luke stirred in his sleep, then gave an unexpected cry. Yoda stiffened at the noise, bracing himself. A moment later, he felt a disturbance growing in the Force, blowing over him like a whirlwind from the plains of Naboo. Luke sat up, gasping.

"Felt it, you did?" Yoda said mildly, having no doubt in his mind that Luke's premonition meant that something happened to one, or both, of his wayward family members.

Luke rubbed his eyes, trying to adjust to the darkness. "It was Leia," he told him, "She was….falling."

"Hm." For a moment, Yoda sat silently. He was surprised that Luke had yet to guess his kinship with the princess, but their time together had admittedly been brief and the boy assumed their immediate connection was based on a common power in the Force, not familial ties. It was for the best, he thought, if the girl really was committed to a Dark path. The salvation of the galaxy required an elimination of the Sith, and Luke would have an easier time carrying out his task if he remained ignorant of their shared bloodline. "Too far gone, is she?"

"No!" Luke's response was adamant. "She's not evil, master. She's just frightened, and trying to do the right thing in the only way she knows how. She's so powerful but she's never had any training. It's not fair to condemn her…."

"Care for her, you do?" Yoda interrupted him.

"And what if I do?" Luke snapped back. "I thought you said that denying attachments was what drove Darth….my father….to the Dark Side."

"Wise you are, for one so young." Yoda gave him a rare smile, then bent over in a fit of coughing. "Alone she feels, lost. Carrying too much weight for one so small. Seductive is the Dark Side, and easy. But destroys those who use it, it does." He tapped a fist against his chest in demonstration. "More and more Dark power does one need then. More and more removed from the Light does one become."

"But how can I help her?" Luke knelt beside the diminutive master. "I can't teach her. I tried to bring her here but she just doesn't understand."

"Guide you, the Force will," Yoda told him. "Remember: anger, fear, aggression—the Dark Side of the Force are these. Kindness, courage, peace—bring Light, they do. And…" he looked deep into Luke's eyes. "Forgiveness. Of all who have wronged you, even those who meant it not."

Luke looked down, watching Yoda as he hobbled back to his bed. "Han returns soon- come with me, Master! Maybe I can help Leia, but what about Vader?"

"Yes…" Yoda croaked, curling up under his blanket and gazing at the faint glow of embers in the fire. "Confront him you must."

"To what end?" Luke gave a short, bitter laugh. "To kill him? To ask him for an allowance and a landspeeder?"

"The Force must guide you."

"He's my father." Luke still had a hard time getting the words out of his mouth. "He tried to shoot me down over the Death Star. He's killed thousands of people. What do I do with that?"

"Compassionate, you are," Yoda assured him quietly. "The right path you will find."

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For a moment, the world stopped turning. The slight sounds, of birds, of vehicles on the street below, of the mechanical systems that kept the palace breathing and lit, were muffled into silence. The room around him faded. All Bail knew was that his daughter was there, standing before him, alive.

For a moment, she simply stood staring at them, and Bail reached out a tentative hand to touch her, to make she was real and solid and not a cruel figment of the imagination. Her hand curled around his, solid and warm, and he pulled her into him with a grasp so tight she gasped. His mouth moved, his lips forming her name, but no sound came out.

Breha closed her eyes, sinking to her knees with the shock. But in her ears, all she could hear were the echoes of her own words: "Her father was Anakin Skywalker."

And then, with the inevitably and timing that only a Dark Lord of the Sith could have, the former Anakin Skywalker pushed open the door and walked into the suite.

Weakened though she was from depravation and pure exhaustion, Breha was still a mother. The sight of Vader brought her to her feet and she interposed her slight form between the hulking Sith and her daughter, whom Bail continued to grip tightly. She heard a small whimpering noise from the girl that sent her into a rage.

"What do you want?" Breha seethed, trying to keep hysteria out her voice.

He could have drawn this out, mocking her and the pompous viceroy, who seemed to think he could protect Leia in the shelter of his arms. But Vader was uninterested in games.

"Are you going to tell her, or am I?" he said.

Leia pulled herself out of her father's embrace just enough to peek over at Vader. The mere sight of him started her trembling, but she steeled herself enough to address him. "Tell me what?"

"Oh, Lelila." Bail stroked the back of her hair, pressing her back into his chest. Breha stepped back , pressing herself against her daughter and forming a protective circle.

"Cowards, as always," Vader spat. "Leia, these two….fools have kept you ignorant long enough." Leia blinked at him, surprised at his familiarity. Even on the Death Star, as he tried to reach into her mind and rip out her most intimate thoughts, he was always formal. "It's time you learned of your heritage and took your rightful place as a master of the Dark Side."

"What do you mean?" she gulped.

"Leia, I am your father."


	29. Chapter 29

She laughed at him.

Scoffed, really, more than laughed but it was enough to shock the Dark Lord into momentary silence. He expected screaming, or tears, or recriminations against the imposters who kept her ignorant for so long. But not a laugh.

"That is the biggest load of nerf crap I have ever heard in my life," she finally said to him, wriggling out of Bail's protective embrace and facing Vader.

It was the first time he'd seen her close up in months, and her appearance shocked him. No longer a buttoned down and brushed up young lady, Leia wore a stained jumpsuit over her skin-and-bones figure. He tasted bile in his throat when he saw how raw the burn on her neck remained after all this time, wishing there was a way he could kill the late Grand Moff again. He knew the desire was ironic, having inflicted far worse on her himself. Gazing into her sickly eyes, he observed that she still had the fire that so intrigued and frightened him on the Death Star. A bit of proper care and a lot of proper training, and they would be unstoppable- especially once Luke was brought into the fold.

The room stayed silent, the two Organas hovering close to Leia but watching her carefully, as though she were a volcano about to erupt at any minute. Annoyed, Vader pointed at Bail.

"Tell her," he ordered.

"You're crazy," Leia snarled at Vader before Bail could respond. "Is this really what you've sunk to? What do you even want any more? You found our base all by yourself."

"Girl, this has nothing to do with your pathetic Rebellion," Vader told her, advancing towards them. "Organa, tell her. Tell her everything."

"They don't have any idea who my biological father is. No one does." Vader could see her confidence was beginning to falter as the conversation wore on without vehement denials from her adoptive parents. "Right?" She looked over to Bail, who held his head in his hands as Breha wept quietly. "Right?"

"Enough!" Frustrated, Vader reached out towards Leia. She leapt back, crashing into a small stool by the vanity as she avoided him. "You are my daughter whether these cowards will admit it to you or not. And you will come with me. Now."

"Why? So you can torture me again?" Her tone stopped Vader's pursuit for a moment as the queen gasped, a look of pure rage on her face. Without warning, Breha picked up a small, heavy side table and charged at Vader, slamming it into his chest. He staggered back briefly, so distracted by Leia that he failed to see the attack coming.

A second later both Breha and Bail were on their knees, hands at their throats as they gasped for air. Leia knelt by her adoptive father, shaking him. "What are you doing?" she shrieked at Vader. "Stop!" Silently, he continued to pinch his fingers together as the couple's faces quickly lost color.

"Monster!" Forgetting her terror, Leia barreled towards Vader as she reached into her cloak, pulling out the scorched lightsaber and aiming the blue beam straight for the Dark Lord's head. He ducked away in time to avoid her, releasing Bail and Breha as he focused on his daughter. With a roar, she swung back towards him again. Taking advantage of his relative size and her sloppy technique, Vader reached out, catching her by the wrist of her sword arm and squeezing tightly until he was able to wrest the lightsaber out of her hand.

"Where did you get this?" He shut off the blade and looked at the hilt. The control side was still relatively intact, but the grip was scorched and partly melted as though it had been through a raging fire. Impressive construction, still operational after all that, he thought. Then, under his mask, he frowned, turning back to the recovering queen and viceroy who huddled on the floor across the room.

"Kenobi." He spat out the word as if it were a curse. "I'd know this blade anywhere. So he was the one training her? Where is he?"

"Dead." Bail coughed, not wanting to give Vader something else to try to interrogate out of his family. "He's dead."

"Give that back to me," Leia protested, fighting against Vader's grip on her wrist. "It's mine!"

"You deserve a better weapon than this, Daughter." Vader tucked the saber into his belt. "Come with me and I'll show you the true power of the Force. That imbecile Kenobi knew nothing of real power."

"No!" With a bellow, Leia focused all the fear and terror and rage of the last few months into a single shove, sending Vader stumbling as she snatched the saber back. But the effort exhausted her, and no sooner had Vader recovered his footing and returned her blow through the Force, sending Leia sprawling unconscious on the floor. With another wave of his hand, he held Bail and Breha back, keeping them from running to the princess's side. He picked up the girl's limp body and walked out of the room, noticing that she still clutched the unlit saber in her fist.

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Solo let out a low whistle as the ship dropped from hyperspace, revealing the ring of defenses that the Empire had erected around Alderaan to imprison the planet's population. Double checking their flight plan, he activated the comm system, waving a hand to quiet the rest of the crew as the nearest Star Destroyer hailed them, demanding a clearance code. He transmitted the one provided by the shuttle's previous owner, holding his breath.

"Shuttle, you're cleared for entry. Be advised your course is changed. Landing now at sector 339."

"Copy that. What's goin' on?" Solo tried to keep his voice light.

"Disturbance near the spaceport in the capital. Riot. Should be under control soon but didn't want to put you in the middle of it."

"Thanks." He looked over his shoulder at the two Alderaani crewmembers, who, like Solo, were disguised in the drab uniforms of the shipping company. They both glared at the comm, knowing exactly what was likely to be done to put a riot under control. Solo shut off the comm.

"Changes our plan a little, but we should still be able to rendezvous with our contact. Do you know where it is they're sending us?"

Irrana leaned forward to look at the coordinates, which had been transposed onto a ground map. "Weird. Looks like they're dropping us at the private landing area at the royal palace."

"Guess that general down there wants to make sure he gets his fuel supplies without having to deal with the common folk," Solo responded tightly. "How does this affect our plan?"

"I think we'll still be okay, as long as they let us off the grounds," Irrana said.

"What about Chewie?"

"Hm." Irrana looked around the small shuttle. "As long as they don't try to board, you'll be fine. Otherwise…" he pulled open a door and found a closet, full of old paperwork and bits and pieces of tools. "I guess you could try to squeeze in here?"

"Not sure that it's the best plan," said Solo, "But I guess it's what we've got. Strap in- we're landing."

The landing area was just outside the inner wall of the palace garden, lined with glowing red LEDs to mark the perimeter. Two stormtroopers stood a few meters back, watching them as they glided into place on the ground. Solo waved Chewie back away from the cockpit and opened the door, trying to stay calm as he led Irrana and Tyman down the ramp.

"Thanks for deviating," one of the troopers said casually, approaching them as the engines shut off with a whine. "Been a crazy day here. First there was a riot just down the street and then Lord Vader took off without even telling the General he was leaving. Now he thinks he's in trouble."

"Lord Vader was here?" Solo tried to keep his face neutral, willing the bead of sweat that threatened to roll down his forehead back into the pore. "Didn't know that."

"Yeah, it was nuts for a week. I think everybody's happy he's gone. Anyways, whatcha got?"

Surprised by the trooper's nonchalance, Han led him around to the cargo area. "Fuel, some food. We can unload- where do you want it?"

"Bachston, bring a cart around," the trooper told his companion, and the other man trotted off to comply. "If you can get it off, that'd be great. We're due to be off duty- going to be a party in the barracks if you all want to drop by."

"We'll consider it," said Han, checking over his shoulder to make sure that the two Alderaanis will still there. Tyman was fidgeting, looking back over across the plains that extended below the sheer cliff face at the edge of the landing strip. The more experienced Irrana stood looking bored as the other trooper returned with the cart. "Thanks again."

The two troopers disappeared through a door back into the main palace grounds, and Solo moved to unload the fuel, not wanting to blow their cover in case they were being observed. "Hey, gimme a hand," he said to Irrana. As the man joined him, Solo leaned in close. "Let's get this off and I'll take it into the palace. You two head into town- I'll meet you."

Irrana nodded. "If you have any trouble getting out, just leave us. I think we'll stay anyways." A soft, far away burst of blaster fire caught his attention and he picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder and pulling Tyman towards the exit. "Force be with you, captain." With a nod, Solo turned and marched the heavy cart into the palace grounds.

Solo had only seen the inside of the palace briefly before, but could tell that whomever was currently in charge did not have the same interest in keeping things up as the previous residents. The flower gardens were sickly from lack of water, and the lawns—which had been beautifully manicured, were tall and weedy. Bits of garbage were strewn about, blowing in the slight breeze. Solo noticed a handwritten sign that read: FREIGHT ENTRANCE and followed the arrow around towards a lower door. It was open, and manned by a bored looking uniformed soldier.

"The fuel?" he said, looking wistfully over his shoulder to where the sounds of laughter echoed down the hallway. Solo nodded. "Where do you want it?"

"Garage, I guess. I'll get some of our guys to take it."

"Can I come in for a minute? 'Fresher on the ship stopped working a couple hours out."

"Sure." The young man pointed down a long hallway. "Straight down there, can't miss it."

Han set off, marveling at how subdued the population must be for the Imperials to behave so casually on an occupied planet. Usually you had to show three forms of identification just to be allowed to breathe the local air. Then he remembered that Alderaan was famous for its lack of armaments. He'd probably be pretty relaxed too if all he had to worry about planetside was someone trying to egg the place.

Leia was going to be pissed when she saw how subjugated her beloved homeworld was, he thought, wondering if the princess had made it yet or if she was stranded in deep space trying to work the controls on Lando's ship. She was really going to owe him for coming after her this time.

He found the 'fresher room and stepped inside, taking advantage of the palatial fittings while he was there. Stepping out, he peeked back to see if he was visible to the guard at the door. The rounded walls blocked the line of sight, and he decided to take a moment to explore, figuring he could plead ignorance if discovered.

He followed the hall to a curvy stairway, tiptoeing up as he admired the art on the walls. Reaching the landing, he peered around to see a line of alcoves, each with doors closed to the hallway. He held his breath, but there was no sound indicating any guards or troops. He crept back in the direction of the gardens adjacent to the landing area, hoping to find a window to check on his ship and Chewbacca.

After a moment of fruitless searching, he tried one of the door handles. Locked. Moving on to the next one, he jiggled it gingerly, practicing his story if he accidentally burst in on some officer in the bathtub. This one was unlocked, and he gave it a push open to look inside.

"Captain Solo?" said an incredulous voice from across the room.

Slipping in, Solo silently shut the door behind him. "Long time no see, your highnesses."

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Watching Leia sigh quietly in her sleep, Vader pondered his next step. It was unclear whether or not the girl actually believed his claim of paternity, but she at least had some awareness of her own abilities in the Force. He could appeal to her hatred of the Emperor to begin her ascent to mastery of the Dark Side, and then she would help him find Luke.

She stirred, opening her eyes slightly with a groan and then leaping back on the bed, using the Force to shove him away as she scrambled to her feet.

"Peace, child." He held up a hand. "I am not going to harm you."

"You'll understand why I have a hard time believing that," she spat, backing further into the corner. He could see her trying to concentrate enough to aim another Force blow at him.

"You must learn more control if we are to destroy the Emperor," he chided, using the Force to press her further against the wall. Struggling, she flailed until he suddenly released her, dropping her to her knees in front of him. He held out a hand to help her up, but she brushed him away and pushed herself to her feet.

"You're going to destroy the Emperor?" she scoffed. "I thought you bowed to him and called him master. He's not going to like that."

"Daughter, do not mock me."

"Don't call me that." She straightened her shoulders, giving him a look of cold death. "I am not your daughter."

"It was a surprise to learn, I agree," Vader said, moving closer to tower over the diminutive princess. "Do you know how I found out?"

"You made it up." She was trying to steady herself, to bury her fear, and he was proud of her for that. Skywalkers did not show fear.

"Breha Organa told me. She thought you were dead and I imagine she thought it would hurt me to think I'd somehow been responsible for the death of my child." Leia gaped. "Yes, Leia- your own….mother, as you called her, sent you straight to me. Where you belong."

Leia looked around the room wildly, searching for an escape and finding no option. They were on a ship, alone—though Leia didn't know that. Vader couldn't risk his apprentice by bringing someone along who might betray his mission to the Emperor. He'd carried her out of the palace, taking back halls to avoid as many troops as possible, and commandeered a private shuttle, setting course for a system where his life had been ripped apart so many years ago. Now it would be the site of his family's rise from the ashes. Tatooine.


	30. Chapter 30

Solo walked over to the balcony window and peeked out, grimacing when he discovered that the landing pad was out of view. He didn't hear any screaming or blaster fire from that direction that would indicate that someone disturbed an angry Wookiee, so he slipped back and faced his two erstwhile clients.

"What are you doing here?" Breha asked with a slight cough, her voice hoarse as if she were recovering from a bad cold. Solo suddenly realized his quest, if that's what it really was, wasn't going to look so innocent and noble on its face to the princess's parents.

"The Alliance sent me," he said finally, figuring it was technically the truth. "Have you, um…well, part of what I'm here for is to find Lei…I mean the princess. She took off on her own to find you all." Noticing the blank look on Bail's face, he backed up. "I mean, she's alive. We found her…I found her, really…and she's okay, mostly." He stopped, confused by the lack of celebrating—or even acknowledgement- from the two formerly bereaved parents.

"Vader took her." Bail's voice was low, barely audible.

"Right, but she escaped," Solo insisted. "I found her on Endor. She escaped."

"No, he took her just a little while ago," Breha clarified. "They're gone."

Solo closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. A little while ago….if only he'd gotten here earlier. Or been able to stop her on Nar Shadda. "Dammit." She was probably dead already.

"We have to find them," Breha continued, glancing back at the heavy door which Solo realized in retrospect was probably locked from the outside. Suddenly her voice was desperate, begging. "You must have a way out? A ship?"

"I'm not usually this dumb, I swear, but I think I just locked myself in here," Solo said with a slight blush. He really wasn't that dumb- usually. "Chewie's still in the ship out there, but I don't know if there's a good way to reach him…"

"There's a secret tunnel here," Breha said, gesturing towards a small opening half hidden behind a vanity. Solo gave her a long look.

"If there's a secret tunnel, what in the hells are you still doing here?"

"We couldn't leave," Bail told him. "They would have done something terrible to innocent people."

"What about now? What are they going to say when you're gone?"

"No one has come to check on us since Vader left," Breha said, grabbing a cloak and wrapping it tightly around herself. "Maybe they'll think he killed us and dumped us somewhere."

"That doesn't seem like the most well thought out plan," Han responded mildly. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"We have to go after them." Bail was adamant. "We can't leave Leia with that…that demon."

Han sighed, not sure how to proceed. "Um, your Highness….your Highnesses. I hate to be so blunt, but Vader isn't known for giving known Rebels a fair trial or anything. Odds are that he's already killed her." He heard the words come out of his mouth as though he were a light year away. She couldn't be dead after all this. It wasn't fair.

"She's alive," they insisted, in nearly perfect unison.

"He won't kill her," Breha added. "He has a personal interest in her."

"Because of that crazy stuff she can do?" Solo remembered Luke's admonishment that Leia was becoming like Vader. "Pushing things around and exploding stuff with her brain?"

Bail frowned. "I've never seen her do anything like that specifically."

Solo gave a low whistle. "Just wait til you do. She once threw Chewie a good four or five meters, and you know how big he is."

Breha gazed at her husband, who had spent far more time around Jedi than she ever had. She raised her eyebrows, transmitting her question with the wordless intimacy and clarity of a longtime partner.

"I think we need to get to her as soon as possible," Bail responded, answering his wife's query without giving up any details in front of the captain. "Let's get out of here."

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They crept through the tunnel silently, Breha leading Solo as Bail secured the door behind them, rendering their escape path invisible once more. The queen had taken a moment to pack some extra clothes and then took one of her jeweled necklaces and used the pointed gemstone to carve a long cut down the backside of her lower arm. As the men watched gaping, she crawled across the floor towards the balcony, leaving a long streak of dark blood. Then she stood, wrapping a scarf around her arm as a bandage. "It's not much," she'd said, "But maybe it looks like a body was dragged out?"

"Better than nothing," Bail agreed, wishing Breha had shared her idea so that he could have been the one to supply the decoy trail of blood. He hated seeing his wife in any pain, and the act simply served to remind him of the sorry state their daughter was in when she appeared so suddenly in their room.

Slinking past the dining room, they could hear the raucous laughter and shouting of the celebrating stormtroopers. Seeing the royal couple's questioning looks, Solo leaned over and whispered, "They're getting a party as a reward for something. Probably surviving Vader's visit."

Another door and a few steps down and they were in a long, straight hallway.

"We're under the garden now," Bail explained, keeping his voice low. "The tunnel opens outside the main wall. We'll have to figure out a way to contact your partner on the inside."

"We were supposed to meet a contact," Solo told them. "I think we should stick to that plan- they should have a way to get us in touch with Chewbacca."

Breha started to argue, her urgency to find her daughter rising as heat in her body, but Bail stopped her. "I agree. Where do we meet them?"

"Southwest corner of Republic Square. It's not very sheltered, I guess. They weren't expecting anyone high profile to be along."

"We'll figure it out," Bail said, continuing down the hall. "If nothing else, we can find a spot to hide and you can pick us up after you find your contact." He turned to Breha. "Do you happen to have something I can wear?"

"Glad one of us was thinking of that," she muttered, handing over a brown wrap that he used to conceal his hair and face. "You look like one of the penitents of R'tayo."

"Better than looking like a viceroy," he retorted. "I have a sense the Imperials will more interested in one of those than the other."

As they reached the door, Solo snuck out first, watching carefully for any signs of observation. He leaned casually against the wall as he mentally counted to one hundred. After nothing happened, he cracked the door back open and waved out the Organas. They scurried away from the wall onto a side street, slowing as they reached a corner.

"I'll follow," Solo said, turning as if to check a message on his comlink as the royal couple strolled ahead of him. Giving them enough space to look as if the group's common trajectory was a mere coincidence, Solo ambled along, the quietness of the street making him nervous. Hardly anyone was out, and those who were kept their heads down as they practically ran towards their destination.

They made their way around another block and onto the main street. It too was very nearly empty, with some wooden barriers surrounding a mess of stormtrooper armor and broken bits of metal in the middle of the street. Even from the distance, Han could hear Breha's gasp as they spotted a pool of blood dripping near the edge of a building. Looking up, Solo recoiled as he saw a body, obviously civilian, draped over a light post that jutted out over the street. The young man had been shot through the head and collapsed, leaving the telltale pile of rocks he'd been using as a weapon against the Imperial oppressors stacked on the windowsill behind him. Staying tight up against the shuttered storefronts, they pressed on.

Bail and Breha finally stopped near the entrance to an open air market, with a few hardy merchants still hawking odds and ends out of old fashioned wooden stalls. Solo used the opportunity to stroll up to them.

"Where next?" he asked quietly, looking at a pile of old pipe fittings and electrical system components that were at least twenty years out of date.

"This is Republic Square," Bail told him. "We'll hang back over by that doorway over there. Just grab us when you find your contact." Solo nodded and trotted off.

Breha leaned against the wall of the building, suddenly fatigued. Had it really been less than a day since their daughter reappeared? Bail squatted next to her, pulling the wrap more tightly over his face as he coughed. His throat still felt raw and sore from Vader's attack.

From across the square, they could see someone walk up to Solo and start chatting, then stroll off in another direction. A moment later, they both jumped as a voice spoke up directly behind them.

"You here with Solo?" a woman asked gruffly. Breha turned to see the woman peering out of a tiny crack in the disused looking door. The woman's eyes lit with recognition, and she sucked in her breath. "Guess so. Door is a block down that way, green. You can't miss it. Be there in one minute." She disappeared, the door closing with a tiny puff of sawdust.

Shrugging, Bail rose and took Breha's hand, leading her in the direction the woman had indicated. The green door was indeed easy to spot, leading into a closed restaurant, and it creaked open as they approached. Solo was already waiting inside, standing in the shadows of the empty coat room.

The woman popped up from behind a counter surrounding the open kitchen, and dipped her head in the Organa's direction. "Your highnesses, welcome."

"Thank you." Breha nodded regally, aware that her appearance after so many weeks of confinement hardly befit a queen. "Please, where are we?"

"There's a safe house through here," the woman explained, gesturing for them to follow her behind the counter. She popped open a trapdoor hidden perfectly in the square tiles. "We have a driver who can get you out of the city, and Captain Solo will meet you there with the ship. And, your highnesses?"

"Yes?"

"If you please- there is a group of refugees from the mountains that would like to go with you."

"Of course," Breha said with a warm smile. "As many as we can squeeze in."

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Kita's eyes lit up when Farn came running over to her with an enormous grin on his face. He and the two other boys had returned safely from their most recent mission to Aldera, laden with medical supplies and gossip that was digested hungrily by the isolated refugees. He had also handed her a hastily scribbled note from the princess, thanking Kita for her kindness and asking her to track down an offworld woman named Tiatkin. The ship the princess had used to reach Alderaan belonged to her, the note said. A quick inquiry around the local caves quickly turned up the woman, who had been trapped in Aldera when the blockade was erected. Her departure was delayed slightly as she was swarmed by refugees begging her to take messages to their loved ones offworld, but she quickly was on her way. Kita prayed that she had made it.

"They got a ship in!" Farn shouted. Kita raised a finger to her lips, looking meaningfully over at a group of napping children, and Farn hushed his voice. "The Alliance sent a ship, and they can take people back with them. We're supposed to send fifteen."

"Just us?" Kita asked, unsure why her little community would be singled out.

"Yeah," Farn said. "Mich passed on the message. He didn't say as much, but I think it's because we found the princess."

"She found us, really," Kita corrected. Fifteen people…how would she possibly decide? They could send the children, but separating families hardly seemed like a reasonable solution. Or the young people, so they could aid the Rebellion.

"We have to meet them tomorrow, at 0800," Farn said, "So they'll need to get off quickly. The ship will meet us at the lakeside."

"All right." Kita raised her voice. "Emergency meeting, in five minutes. Everyone spread the word."

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Leia sat alone again, huddling on the small cot with the fleece blanket pulled around her to ward off the chill. Vader had left after she refused to speak, warning her ominously that he would return and instructing her to search her feelings, whatever that meant. The only feeling she had now was rage, though she wouldn't admit to herself that it was overwhelmed by a terror so all-encompassing that it became nearly invisible to her. Terror that her strength was gone, that she'd give in to whatever he wanted to avoid being tortured again. Terror that he was telling the truth, that Luke was right: she was just like him.

His return interrupted her muddled train of thought. He carried a small standard issue tray with a sealed packet of water and some ration bars stacked in a pile.

"Here," he said, thrusting it at her. "You need to eat."

"I thought you were in the business of starving me," she grumbled, taking the water and poking the attached straw through the foil. She hadn't realized how thirsty she was.

"There's no need to act so aggrieved, Leia," Vader said, a hint of exasperation in his voice. "It's not like you were an innocent victim."

"I beg your pardon? Are you saying I deserved what you did to me?" Leia sucked down the rest of the water and pitched the packet away, angry enough at his assertion to ignore her body's desperate pleas for more liquid.

"You willfully stole designs to the Emperor's premiere weapon to hand over to the Rebellion," Vader said to her. "You can hardly be surprised that the Emperor ordered that the information be gained by any means necessary."

She gave a small sneer. "At least that gives me one comfort. No one would ever do such a thing to their own child. I knew you were lying."

"I am not lying." His voice raised, he reached an arm up as Leia flinched, expecting a blow. But instead he touched a ceiling panel, plunging the room into total darkness.

"What are you doing?" Leia couldn't keep the trembling out of her voice.

"Your first lesson." Vader stepped back. "I have concealed Kenobi's lightsaber in here. Find it."

"It's my lightsaber," Leia snapped at him, "And how am I supposed to find it if I can't see my hand in front of my face?"

"The Force, you foolish child. Use the Force."

Leia grimaced. She knew he could probably see as well in the dark as the light, but she couldn't help herself. Holding up her hands, she channeled all her rage and fear into a single burst and shoved him against the wall. "Like that?"

Vader was surprisingly calm. "No. You need to learn control. Shoving things around is how children play."

"Then turn the lights back on. I can't reach the switch. You may not have noticed, but I'm awfully short for someone who is supposedly your daughter."

"No."

"Fine." Leia sat back on the cot and scowled into the pitch black. "I can wait."

"So can I."

She leaned back against the bulkhead, wondering if she could find the ration bars in the dark. They looked slightly out of date, but she was hungry. She reached out a hand to paw at the floor in front of her.

"I said use the Force."

"I don't know how," she snapped grumpily, continuing to feel around as she kept one hand on the edge of the cot.

"Picture your goal in your mind, and will it to come to you," Vader said, "The Force will only obey you if you believe in your ability to dominate it."

Against her better judgment, Leia decided that trying this method was likely the only way to get Vader off her back for the moment. She brought a picture to her mind, concentrating. "Come," she whispered fiercely. "Come."

Vader snapped the lights back on as he saw a small cylinder fly towards Leia's hand, and heard the girl gasp in surprise at her success. He was less pleased, however, when he saw her peel a wrapper off the dark object and take a bite, chewing thoughtfully.

"I'll return when you are ready for your next lesson," he growled, stomping out and slamming the door behind him. Leia smiled inwardly at her small victory as she looked up at the door, noticing that the lightsaber sat on top of the high door frame, just out of reach.

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Luke noticed that with each passing day, Master Yoda was growing quieter and slower as he set the young Jedi to his tasks. He'd asked him once or twice whether he was all right, but Yoda brushed him off and told him to concentrate. Still, he was glad that the time for Han to return and pick him up was coming soon. Perhaps he could convince the old Jedi to go to a medical facility…

They were sitting at the entrance to a murky cave, where Yoda had sent him alone multiple times to test his understanding of the Dark Side. Each time, he found himself faced with a specter of his father and forced to fight. And each time, as he slashed his way to victory, the mask exploded to reveal a familiar face: either his own, or Leia's.

"Why is it called the Dark Side?" he asked as they rested, hoping to gain a clue as to how to emerge victorious from the trial. So far, each time, Yoda only sighed when he came out, saying, "Do better, next time you will."

"Good question this is," Yoda croaked, adjusting himself against the stump where he'd leaned his walking stick. "Blind, it makes you. Blind to what you do to others. Blind to what you do to yourself. Makes you see what is not there. Not see what is there." He punctuated his speech with little jabs from his finger against Luke's chest. "That is why the Dark Side it is called."

Luke pondered for a minute, wondering if there was additional wisdom hidden in the old Jedi's words. "I feel like I was blind," he said finally. "No one ever told me the truth about my father when I was growing up. They let me idolize him, think that he was a hero. Think that…." He choked on his words.

"Think what, did you?" Yoda pressed him gently.

"Think that he loved me," Luke finally said quietly, embarrassed by the tears in his eyes.

"Mmm." Yoda let his voice trail off into silence. "No longer think that, do you?"

"How could he love anyone? He's the worst person in the galaxy."

"Know not what is in Darth Vader's heart, do I," Yoda confessed. "But blinded by the Dark Side, he is. Understand his own actions, he does not. But powerful is love. How to destroy it, know I not. And how to destroy it, Palpatine knows not." He settled his head back, resting his eyes as Luke stood.

"All right." Grabbing his lightsaber, he ducked back into the cave.

As usual, rodents scurried underneath him, occasionally crossing directly over his boots. After this long in the swamp, he was able to keep from cringing at the tiny feet skittering over him, but still ducked out of the way of the dangling spider webs whose architects concealed themselves in shadows, waiting for an unfortunate insect to stumble into their trap. He reached the wide expanse of the cave where the vision usually awaited him, but this time it was empty.

"Hello?" he called into the dank air, feeling slightly foolish. He heard what sounded like footsteps, and pressed on.

Deeper in the cave, the light dimmed and he struggled to see the space in front of him. Suddenly, with a flash, the cavern was illuminated by two lights: one red, one blue. Luke sprang ahead, stopping at the vision in front of him.

Vader was there, as always, but instead of lying in wait for Luke he was already locked in a pitched battle. His opponent was Leia. She grunted as he advanced on her, easily parrying her clumsy strokes and pushing her closer and closer into a corner. Forgetting his earlier insight, Luke rushed into the fray, drawing Vader away and raising his sword for a killing blow. The head rolled off, and the vision of Leia faded away, leaving Luke alone, once again looking at his own dead face behind Vader's mask.

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	31. Chapter 31

"Are you sure you're all right back there?" Breha cringed as Mich turned around, taking his eyes off the road ahead to glance through the small window into the cargo area of the truck where they had secreted themselves early that morning as it passed swiftly by the safe house. He was well known around the palace as a danger to himself and others when behind the controls of a landspeeder, and she wondered how he could have possibly been offered a job as a trucker. The vehicle rocked weaved slightly back and forth as he maneuvered through the plains outside of Aldera.

"We're just fine, Mich." Bail spoke up, seeing his wife's face turn slightly green. "Go ahead and keep your eyes on the road." He patted Breha's knee reassuringly and leaned over to whisper to her. "He's never gotten in a bad accident." She rolled her eyes.

Scooting back towards the rear of the truck, Breha spoke quietly to one of the medics who was to accompany them off planet. They had brought along three badly injured Alderaanis—two wounded in the recent riot in Aldera, and one who had narrowly escaped execution by firing squad on the main street. Leaning over, she stroked the wounded man's hair.

"Carlist, do you need anything? I'm sorry it's a bit rough back here, but we'll have you somewhere safe soon."

"Please don't worry about me," Rieekan responded, grimacing as the speeder bumped slightly. Breha could see he was missing multiple teeth, and gently took a bottle of water from one of the medics to drip into his mouth. "You don't need to do that."

"I have little else better to do at the moment," she responded lightly, "Other than worry that Mich is going to drive us off a cliff."

The light trickling through the small window into the cab brightened as the day pressed on, and Breha began wishing she had thought to grab some sort of chrono to keep track of the time. They rarely took ground transport on their trips to the mountains, and so she had little context for the length of the trip. Finally, she decided to lean her head back and close her eyes, assuming that opportunities for rest in the near future would be few and far between.

It seemed that she had no more than blinked when she heard her husband whispering in her ear.

"Onwards and upwards, my love. We're walking from here."

Breha stretched and looked over at the three invalids, resting quietly on makeshift pallets crafted from old blankets. "What about them? Is it far?"

"There's a speeder with enough room for them and one of the medics. They'll meet us there." The back of the cargo area rolled open, flooding them with bright sunlight as the small group crawled out.

"Your highness, you should ride," Rieekan croaked at Breha, holding a hand up to shield his eyes from the light. "I can walk."

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard today," Breha chided him. "Our creator gave me two feet and I certainly know how to use them." Rieekan chuckled weakly. "What's funny?"

"You sound like the Princess."

"Then I suppose she comes by it honestly."

The landspeeder pulled up, piloted by a young man with shaggy dark hair hanging to his chin.

"Where did you get that, Farn?" Mich asked as he helped unload the boxes of supplies from the back of the truck.

"I've had it," Farn admitted sheepishly. "I was worried Kita would make me drain the fuel and bring it up to the camp."

Mich just shook his head. "Well, I guess it's a good thing we have it now. You know where you're meeting the shuttle?"

"Yup."

"And did you bring the additional passengers down?"

"Well, yes, a few….there are four."

"What?" Bail joined the conversation. "But there's plenty of room."

Farn gave a quick bow to the viceroy. "Yes, sir…I mean, your highness, sir. It's just, no one wanted to leave."

"Even the children?"

"I think they felt like if people started to run away, we're handing the planet over to the Empire. The people who are coming want to join up with the Alliance."

"Oh." The same sense had driven Bail and Breha back to their home after the Death Star's destruction, but he had no expectation that the civilian population of Alderaan follow that same path. Hearing the boy's explanation touched him. "You should know, we're not really fleeing either. We'll be back, soon."

"Well, actually…." Farn started, "I was hoping if there's still room that I could come with you. My brother is in the Alliance, and I want to join up too."

"How old are you, young man?"

Farn grinned. "How old do I need to be?"

"Fair enough." Farn turned to hop into the landspeeder, peeking into the back and grimacing when he saw the faces of the three injured passengers. "Also, we've got the Princess's protocol droid for you to take back too. I left him at the lakeside to keep watch."

"You can keep it if you need," Bail said, but Farn shook his head furiously.

"No, sir. He's driving everyone nuts."

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Vader landed the shuttle in a desolate stretch of the Jundland Wastes, settling it in the shadow of one of the deep canyons that his former self had used as a proving ground for podracers. Alone in the cockpit, he indulged himself for a moment, whipping around the sheer rock faces as he sought an ideal spot for a temporary encampment. He could sense Leia's alarm at the sudden accelerations.

Leaving her locked in her cabin, he emerged for the first time in more than twenty years into the blinding twin sunlight of Tatooine. His suit blocked the heat, but he could still remember the smell of dust and baked rock, and the prickling sand against his skin. He had memories of the past frequently, but here, on his childhood home, the recollections felt more real instead of seeming like a holodoc of someone else's life. He wondered if the stones that marked his mother's final resting place had survived years of assault by the desert winds. She would have loved Leia: they shared the same warm smile. The last vision he'd had of his mother forced its way past the good memories, and he saw her beaten and broken body leaking life out onto the floor of a dirty tent. He tried to shake the memory away, and the picture in his mind's eye of Shmi was replaced by Leia, similarly battered as she lay unconscious on the floor of her cell. He clenched his fists, trying to refocus his thoughts.

"Dammit, Skywalker!" he muttered, failing to notice that for the first time since he'd battled Kenobi over the hellish landscape of Mustafar, he'd thought of himself using the name of his birth.

Leia was sitting in the same spot on her cot where he always found her when he burst into her cabin.

"Out," he ordered.

"Where are we?" She stretched, and fanned herself lightly as she noticed that the cabin was growing noticeably warmer.

"Somewhere you can continue your training," he told her, gesturing for her to follow him outside. Leia put her hands over her face as they walked out, withering under the hot suns.

"I'm supposed to train in some uninhabitable badlands?" she said derisively, "Not that I'm planning on doing any training, of course. You realize we humans can't live in an oven, right?"

"Plenty of humans live here," he responded, gritting the remains of his teeth to keep from responding to her rude tone. "You'll have to toughen up."

"Like hell I will," she muttered, practically running to keep up with his long strides as he walked along the canyon.

"Luke Skywalker managed."

Leia stopped. "What do you want with Luke?"

Vader turned to address her. "He grew up here."

"So?" She was nervous. She'd only known Luke for a short while, but they had an immediate connection. If Vader knew Luke had anything to do with the destruction of the Death Star…

"He's a very talented young man. I should like to meet him."

"Is that why you brought me here? As bait for Luke? It's not going to work…"

"No, Leia. I've brought you here to train you in the power of the Dark Side. To realize your full potential as my…."

"DO NOT CALL ME YOUR DAUGHTER!" she screamed, turning back to head for the ship. Reaching a hand out towards her, Vader used the Force to stop her in her tracks, yanking her back towards him.

"The truth is not always to our liking, daughter, but that does not make it any less the truth," he hissed quietly at her. "Now, you will join me, and together we will rid the galaxy of the Emperor and take his place as rightful rulers." Gripping her shoulder, he gave her a mild shake. "Am I understood?"

She tried to yank herself away, but he held his grip. "Am I understood?" Finally, he felt her sag.

"Yes."

"Good. Now we will proceed with your training." He began walking quickly back towards the ship, with Leia lagged several meters in his footsteps. As he reached the gangplank, Leia's eyes grew wide as she broke into a run to catch up. Too far behind, she gasped as he activated the controls, closing the door.

"Your task is to survive," he said as the door slammed in her face.

As the ringing echo of the slamming door faded away down the canyon, Leia looked up at the crumbling rocks around her, radiating heat as the suns rose higher in the sky. Finding a small alcove between some boulders, she squatted down, wondering how long he meant to leave her out here to fend for herself. A tentacled centipede crawled by, waving dark brown antennae in her direction before disappearing into a crack in the ground. Other than that, there were no signs of life.

She'd learned on Endor that focusing on her own sorry state did little to help her make it through the day, so instead she pondered why Vader would have mentioned Luke. She knew from the whispered stories of palace staff on Alderaan that Vader had been responsible for murdering hundreds of the Jedi knights that used to safeguard the galaxy. Presumably Luke had somehow escaped the earlier genocide and now Vader wanted to finish the job. She had to stop him, but how? Luke didn't stand a chance against the Dark Lord in combat.

An ear-shattering howl filled the canyon, startling Leia to her feet. She pressed herself against the boulder and looked around, but the canyon had too many curves to afford much of a sightline. The ground began rumbling, nearly imperceptibly, as though something large was making its way through the ravine. Ducking back behind the boulders, Leia held her breath. Nothing that survived in this harsh atmosphere could be very pleasant to deal with.

The howl ripped through the air again, making Leia's eardrums ring painfully. She ventured a peek over the boulder and saw a stark shadow on the rock wall past the shuttle, moving closer. Whatever was approaching her was enormous, as big as a small space cruiser, with sharp horns and teeth she could see outlined as it let out yet another horrifying yowl.

She pushed herself deeper into the rocks, debating whether she should make a run for the shuttle. Vader would have to let her in: if he so desperately wanted her as his apprentice, he wouldn't leave her to be eaten by some kind of desert monster. But then again, he told her that he was challenging her to survive. She imagined that whatever the thing was, it was part of her test.

The beast grew close enough that she could hear the individual footsteps as it scraped its claws against the ground, snuffling for prey. She was completely unarmed but for the small and likely useless pile of rocks that were scattered around the canyon floor. She covered her ears as it found the shuttle, and cringed at the sound of claws on metal. It gave up after a moment and sniffed the air, sensing easy prey nearby.

Leia crouched further back into the crevice as the beast put its nose to the ground, following her trail. She shrieked in terror as its face appeared around one of the rocks. Devilish horns extended back from the reptilian head, yellow eyes searching the ground hungrily for a mid-afternoon snack. Saliva dripped from its monstrous fangs, steaming as it hit the hot, dry ground. It lunged at her, wedging itself between the boulders, and Leia threw herself backwards, ignoring the jarring pain in her back as she slammed against the cliff wall. She slipped out the other side of her tiny hiding place, gaining a moment of advantage as the beast fought to free its head. With a shake, it was loose again and leapt at her, smacking into the rocks as she dodged again. She lifted her hands, letting the terror burst out of her in a single blast of power that sent the beast tumbling away momentarily. The attack did little to slow it down though, and it charged her again as she looked around desperately for better shelter. Running to the opposite side of the shuttle, she banged on the hull to no avail. Vader was ignoring her.

A surge of anger built up in her as the beast howled again. How dare he bring her to this awful planet and then abandon her to be eaten alive by some animal? She listened as the beast sniffed again, picking up her scent and ambling around the shuttle.

With a howl of her own, Leia closed her eyes and imagined using Vader's own trick against him, choking the life out of him as he begged her for mercy. Seeing the beast peering at her around the edge of the shuttle, she turned her attention to it. It stopped its advance, wheezing as it shook its head wildly to ward off whatever was suddenly suffocating it. Not one to take her safety for granted, Leia continued to concentrate on squeezing its throat until she heard an ear shattering crack and the beast fell to the ground, dead.

"Impressive. Most impressive." Leia whipped around to see Vader watching her. "You are making good progress."

"Were you just going to let that thing eat me?" Leia spat.

"It's called a krayt dragon, and I had little concern about it eating you. They don't care for the taste of human flesh. Typically they'll just bite off a few pieces and then leave the rest behind."

"Bastard."

"I see, Leia," he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her back towards the ship, "That your education in proper manners is also severely lacking. We will work on that."

As they walked back inside, Leia saw that the comm display in the ship was lighting up, indicating an incoming contact. Vader shoved her back towards her cabin and then went to answer. A moment later, he stalked back, clearly in a very bad mood.

"The Emperor has ordered me to make contact," he told her, adding sternly, "Stay back here and stay quiet if you value your life."

A few minutes later, she held her breath and peeked out of the cabin door to see Vader kneeling in front of a tiny hologram of Emperor Palpatine.

"What is thy bidding, my master?" Vader asked.

"You left Alderaan rather suddenly, Lord Vader. I want an explanation."

"I had a lead in seeking young Skywalker, my master. I kept my departure quiet because I believe that the Rebels may still have some presence on Alderaan."

"And?"

"He will come to me, my master."

"And you will bring him to me."

Leia pulled her head back, pressing her body up against the cabin wall in horror. So Vader meant to turn Luke over to the Emperor? She couldn't let that happen. Suddenly an idea popped into her head. Steeling herself, she dashed out into the cabin and stood next to Vader.

"Father," she said, her voice loud and sweet, "What are you talking about? I thought you said you and I were going to kill the Emperor." Pretending to just then notice Palpatine, who was looking at her with shocked recognition, she added in a lilting, falsely embarrassed voice, "Oh. Whoops."


	32. Chapter 32

Propped up against a tree as they awaited the arrival of the shuttle and their on-foot companions, Carlist Rieekan took a deep breath to soak in the fresh smell of the lake. As many Alderaanis did, he'd vacationed here growing up, pitching tents in the clearings and building campfires to grill freshly caught fish on long summer evenings. Such a distance from populated areas, it was easy to imagine that Alderaan was still the peaceful, joyous place he'd known as a young man.

A noise caught his attention, and he strained to turn his head and look into the woods. The medic that had helped him when he was dragged into a safe house in the middle of the inexplicable chaos in Aldera said he probably had cracked vertebrae. Movement of any sort was agony, but he could manage. The fact that he was still alive to fight another day was motivation enough to ignore the pain.

"Is our ride here yet?" Breha's voice called pleasantly through the trees. Her cheeks were flushed from the vigorous hike, but she still managed a queenly smile when she saw that they had reached the camp. Out of an abundance of caution, the refugees from the mountains hadn't been informed of the identities of their traveling companions, and Rieekan managed a mild chuckle when he saw the four young men huddle together, quietly conferencing over how they should properly behave around their monarchs. The formal etiquette training that was taught in public schools when he was a child was clearly dropped from the curriculum as educators adjusted to the new realities of the Empire. Even Princess Leia, he mused, was never going to be as formal as her parents.

As if on cue, a slight buzzing sounded from above the trees and a shuttle dropped neatly down onto the beach in front of them. Captain Solo waved from the cockpit viewport, and the group hurriedly gathered their supplies and hustled on board, the medics carrying the three invalids on stretchers.

"Are you kidding me?" Solo had come into the main hold to check progress and saw Threepio waddling up the gangplank. "Did I do something so horrible in a past life to be stuck with that droid for all eternity?"

After settling the injured onto the few bunks in the back of the shuttle, the rest of the passengers found spots to strap in-more or less-and Solo carefully lifted them off. Bail joined him and Chewbacca in the cockpit, looking down wistfully as they skimmed the Juran Mountains.

"Now, as long as our exit codes are still good, we should be on our way to Rendili," Solo said idly, fingering the controls. "Wedge better have taken good care of my ship."

Bail glanced over his shoulder, making sure no one else was eavesdropping, and leaned in close to Solo. "We have to find Leia."

Surprising the viceroy, Solo nodded. "I'm scheduled to pick Luke Skywalker—remember him?—in a few days. He seems to have some weird ability to figure out where she is, or so he claims. I thought we could get him to help us."

"You've thought about this," Bail said. "So you're coming along?"

Solo blushed. "Well, yeah. I mean, if it's all right with you. I have to get Luke anyways, so I thought we could all go together…"

Bail simply raised an eyebrow and walked back into the rear cabin.

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Yoda pulled his blanket over his arms and rested his head back on his homespun pillow, breathing deeply as he watched Luke tucking his belongings into a bag.

"Going so soon, are you?"

"Han will be here to pick me up tomorrow, Master," Luke explained. "I have to go."

"Have to go you do not," Yoda said firmly. "Stay, you can."

"I can't," Luke argued. "My friends need me."

Luke had emerged from his last encounter in the cave shaken. He had intended to face the vision of Vader, man to man, without resorting to violence. But seeing Leia so overwhelmed had distracted him from his plan. How would he save her from the Dark Side if he couldn't first save himself? Without needing any confirmation, he somehow knew Leia was in Vader's hands again. He had dreams of her lost in a sandstorm on Tatooine, with Vader's voice guiding her inexorably towards the edge of a cliff as she stumbled forward.

"Save your friends, will you, or doom them?" Yoda's tone was harsher than usual. He leaned over and coughed.

"I won't let Leia fall," he said adamantly. "It's not fair. She doesn't know what's happening to her."

"So confront Vader will you?"

Luke stopped, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion. "I can't kill my own father. I just can't."

"Then not ready for the challenge are you."

"It doesn't matter," Luke responded stubbornly. "The challenge is ready for me."

Yoda coughed again. "Not long have we then. What else need you to know?"

The boy dropped to his knees, crouching beside the old Jedi. "I don't know, Master."

"Tell you, the Force will. Trust in the Force, Luke." With a slight snore, he dropped his head and fell asleep.

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"Might I inquire…" Vader's voice was softly dangerous, "Exactly what you think you were doing there?"

Leia gave him a sickly smile, the full magnitude of her actions hitting her as Vader double checked to ensure that the comm connection was indeed shut off. He'd slammed his hand down to break the link before Palpatine could react to the girl's appearance, but he could still feel the depth of his master's rage transmitting across the galaxy.

"I'm not going to let you hurt Luke."

He leaned over her, his mask inches from her face. "I thought you wanted to get rid of the Emperor. You gave up everything to join the Rebels and destroy his Death Star. Why would you give all that up now?"

Leia stepped back. "I'm not going to let you hurt Luke."

He desperately wanted to hit her, to smack the self-satisfied look off her face. But there were better ways to punish someone.

"What makes you think I was going to hurt Luke?"

"You were going to hand him over to the Emperor! I doubt Palpatine was planning to throw him a ticker tape parade."

"It may surprise you to learn, girl," he said slowly, "That on occasion I am not entirely forthcoming with my superiors. But surely you know nothing of being a liar."

"What do you want with Luke, then?" she asked sullenly.

"It hardly matters now. You've ruined everything with your little outburst. The Emperor will find us and kill us, and then he will find Luke and follow through on his plan to train his as his apprentice."

Leia sucked in her breath. "Luke would die before he joined Palpatine."

"Don't underestimate the power of the Dark Side, daughter. You've tasted its strength." Backing her up against the wall of the cockpit, he leaned down. "You think I wanted to follow him?"

"I don't understand."

Vader grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look directly at him. "I was trying," he hissed, "To protect you both from the Emperor."

"Why?" Leia stared into the eyes hidden behind the dark mask. She could see her face reflected in the black, her own eyes sunken and sickly yellow. Suddenly she was tired, so tired. "Why?"

"Because that's what a father is supposed to do."

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It had only been a few days, but Captain Solo relished being back in his own ship. True to his word, Wedge had kept the Falcon safe on Rendili and even managed to stop some of the more curious Rebel techs from trying to take apart his hyperdrive to see how he was able to push it 0.5 past lightspeed. The festivities around their arrival were cut short though as the Rebels scrambled to round up a ship that would take General Rieekan to the fleet rendezvous point, which boasted a far more advanced medical facility than the makeshift first aid station that Wedge's group had erected.

"You should come with me," he said to the Organas as he allowed the medics to put him on a stretcher and start an IV drip. "Leia's there."

Breha patted his shoulder gently, her eyes sad. With his injuries from his time in Imperial custody, they hadn't had the heart to tell him that Leia had been recaptured. "I'm afraid she isn't. But we're going to go get her and bring her home."

"She is," Rieekan insisted, laying his aching head back. "She was on the first transport off Yavin."

"Yeah, about that…" Solo walked up to join them. "She kinda stowed away on my ship instead. I didn't know until it was too late to send her back."

"Solo!" Rieekan's voice was sharp. "I told you to make sure she got on Rebel I!"

"I thought I had," Solo protested. "She snuck away."

"Don't blame him," Bail said to Rieekan. "This is my daughter we're talking about. If she gets an idea in her head, gods help anyone who tries to stand in her way."

They stood and waved as the shuttle lifted off, taking Rieekan back to the fleet. Then Solo, Chewbacca, Bail and Breha turned to walk back to where the Falcon awaited.

"Hang on!" Wedge chased after them. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Oh. Right." He slowed his pace, allowing Threepio and Artoo to catch up. The protocol droid was yammering on to his little companion about his recent adventures, adding in any number of editorial comments about how he was neither suited for long walks in the woods or being crammed cheek by jowl into the storage area of a snubfighter.

"When this is over, I shall need an oil bath." Artoo tweedled at him and zipped up the gangplank as Solo hit the controls to begin closing the entry.

"Wait for me!" Threepio howled, tottering up and nearly falling as the door slammed closed behind him.

Without being asked, Chewbacca shut down and stored both droids in the rear hold before flopping into the copilot's seat.

"So where is Luke right now?" Breha asked him as they hurried through the pre-flight procedures.

"It sounds crazy, but he had this wild vision that he should go off and train with some supposed Jedi master in a swamp," Solo responded, thinking that perhaps leaving Luke hadn't been the best idea after all. The Kid seemed confident enough, but he could have easily been eaten or drowned in the ensuing few weeks.

"What Jedi master?" Bail asked. "Did he tell you who it was?" Solo was surprised at how easily they accepted the story, though in his experience old people did tend to put greater stock in hokey religions.

"Yoyo or something, I think?"

"Yoda? He's still alive?"

"Yeah, that sounds right. You know him?"

"Quite well, yes," answered Bail, suddenly feeling more confident than he had since Leia told him that she agreed to the mission to deliver the Death Star plans. If Yoda was involved, they did have a chance.

"Okay then. Get buckled in. Next stop, Dagobah. Let's see how fast we can push this baby."

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Vader locked Leia in her cabin, needing time to concentrate on his next steps without her constant harping at him. She'd been relatively meek when he dragged her off, and laid down on her cot before he even slammed the door behind him. He had little time to think about her condition, but it did seem to him that her use of the Dark Side of the Force was affecting her body more quickly that he would expect. He could sense the battle raging within her, her bright and noble spirit desperately trying to win out over the fear and anger that were driving her every action. He would need to work with her on control, teaching her how to embrace the dark emotions and use them to her advantage instead of allowing the Dark Side to overwhelm her, bursting forth only when her tiny form could no longer contain its power.

The Emperor could track and find him easily, he knew that much. Whether the old man would confront Vader on his own or send in a fleet to blast him from space, he couldn't predict. Their distance from the Core at least afforded him some time: the nearest Imperial fleet was two days away, and travel from Imperial Center would take even longer. The common bitter joke among Tatooine residents when he was young had been to say, "If there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet it's farthest from."

He knew Luke would come here, had seen it in more than one vision. Even if Vader fled with Leia, the Emperor might find his son when he sent troops to search for his erstwhile apprentice. No, they would only leave as a family. If only the boy would hurry along.

He glanced towards the door to the cabin where he could sense Leia had fallen asleep. Trying to get her to cooperate in calling Luke would be a fool's errand: she was convinced that Vader planned to harm the young man and no amount of logic could change her mind. Briefly, he considered hurting her, hoping that her cries of pain would echo through the Force to her brother. But he couldn't bring himself to that again, not now that he knew she was his child. He had never been sure whether there was any sort of afterlife, or whether the visions of dead Jedi that some describe were mere figments of the imagination, but a lump rose in his throat when he imagined his wife and mother seeing what he had done to Leia. Perhaps Luke would be better off if they left—he was incapable of keeping himself from hurting those he was supposed to love the most.

A shuddering wave of dark energy rippled through the ship, bringing Vader to his feet. Could it be the Emperor already? Another tremor in the Force revealed that the source was in fact Leia, and Vader walked back to check on her.

As he opened the door, he could see that the small room had been turned upside down. The cot lay on its side, blankets strewn about, and the small table and chair has been smashed to pieces. Leia stood in the midst of the destruction, her eyes open and blank, her mouth wide in a silent scream.

He froze, not knowing what to do. He knew about nightmares, having suffered them nearly his whole life. Padme always knew what to do, waking him gently and soothing him, but he imagined that Leia would not be comforted by the sight of the Sith Lord. Lacking any better ideas, he stepped out and shut the door behind him, feeling her terror and turmoil continuing. She was silent, but he could hear her screams echoing painfully in his head as she fought against the darkness that was trying to consume her. Finally, in desperation at her distress, he focused his mind on a picture of her mother, sending the calming sensations he remembered from Padme's voice and touch to his daughter. He felt her relax, then heard a thump as she collapsed to the floor.

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"This is the planet?" Breha sounded skeptical as she looked down on the misty surface of Dagobah. "It doesn't look inhabited."

"As far as I know it has a sentient population of two," Solo told her, agreeing with her assessment. "Now, let me pull up the coordinates- there was a specific spot we were supposed to land…"

Solo held his breath as they descended, suddenly terrified of what they might find. Luke was smart, and tough, but Solo doubted his survival skills in an unfamiliar, hostile environment. When they found her again, the Kid could probably learn a lot from the Princess. She'd managed to pull herself together with little more than a bunch of blasters and a first aid kit and survive for way longer on Endor. There weren't many people that could come out of that sort of situation unscathed. Hopefully a bit of her toughness had rubbed off on Luke…

He exhaled loudly as they settled into the small landing area, spotting Luke waiting just beyond the trees and looking as healthy as ever. Lowering the gangplank, he ran out, giving Luke a hearty handshake before pulling him into a hug.

"Looking good, Kid. How was the vacation?"

The bags beneath his eyes and dirty, sweaty hair and clothes made Luke look far older than his years. The effect was amplified by the hard look in the Kid's eyes, as if he'd been through yet another war in the last few weeks. Solo cleared his throat.

"You okay, Luke?"

"I am." Luke smiled, the pain in his eyes fading slightly. "It's good to see you, Han."

"Luke!" The young man looked up in surprise as he saw Breha and Bail tripping over roots in their haste to get to him. Breha gave him a tight hug. "Oh, Luke, we're so glad to see you again."

"Are you ready to go?" Solo asked him, looking around for the little green Jedi that had been there when he dropped Luke. "We've got some work for you….Leia's been taken again."

"By Vader," Bail added somberly, "You have to help us find her."

"I know," Luke nodded. How could he tell these kind people that their daughter's captor was his father? They would hate him. "First, I need to do something. Yoda is sick- he needs to come with us." He walked quickly towards the mud hut where the Jedi Master rested, Bail on his heels.

Yoda was awake when they poked their heads into the hut, and Bail quickly crouched beside the bed.

"Master Yoda," he said reverently, alarmed at the Jedi's condition.

"Senator Organa, good it is to see you," Yoda whispered. "A good friend to the Jedi, always have you been."

"Master, we need your help," Bail said desperately. "Leia is in terrible danger."

"Seen this, I have," Yoda replied, closing his eyes for a moment. "Tempted by the Dark Side, is she." Bail blanched as Yoda confirmed his earlier suspicions.

"How can that be?" he said, his voice pleading. "She's nothing like Vader. She's always been a good girl."

"In all of us, the Dark Side is. Appears when we least expect it, it does. Fell trying to save the one he loved, Vader did. Repeating this history, Leia is."

"We can't let that happen. You have to help!" Bail begged. Yoda breathed deeply and said nothing.

"Please, master," Luke added. "The Alliance has medical facilities that can treat you for whatever is wrong."

"Wrong, nothing is," Yoda told him. "When 900 years old you reach, tired will you be. Reach their end, all lives do. Even mine."

"Master, you can't die," Luke said, "Not now. I still have so far to go."

"Lead you, the Force will. Always with you, will I be. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." He reached out to poke Luke's arm. "Think Vader destroyed the Jedi, do you? Only gone are their bodies. In the Force, forever live their spirits."

Bail was silent as the old Jedi lectured his young apprentice. Yoda had done little to reassure him that Leia was still salvageable, and he grew frustrated as Yoda settled into his bed, clearly preparing for death.

"You can't hang in a few more days?" he finally spat out angrily. "Nine hundred years and you let yourself go now?"

Yoda smiled indulgently at Bail. "Trust in the Force you must as well, youngling. Accepted that burden, you did." He gestured for Bail to lean in close, whispering so Luke couldn't overhear. "No easy task is raising a Skywalker. Done well, you all have. Done well."

Bail leaned back as Luke gave them a perplexed look, wanting in on the secret. Yoda raised his hand in one final blessing for them both. "May the Force be with you, always." Then he laid back and closed his eyes, and Luke and Bail watched in solemn silence as his body faded away, leaving the rough blanket to float gently to the now empty bed.


	33. Chapter 33

Leia was surprised to wake up shivering. After her time outside on Tatooine, she imagined she would never be cold again. Pushing herself up into a sitting position, she discovered that she was laying on the floor of the cabin, sore from having lain so long against the hard metal. Briefly, she remembered her most recent dream- a beautiful woman, singing and rubbing her back gently as she rested. Her mother, she thought, recognizing the cloudy images of the woman that were buried in the deepest recesses of her brain.

No one knew that she remembered her mother, who had tragically died immediately after her birth. For a long time she had tried to convince herself that the memories were products of her imagination, born of a desperation for some tangible heritage. But never had the woman appeared in her dreams.

Stretching, she saw that the room was a mess. This time she had no doubt about her own responsibility, but was far less concerned about Vader's reaction than she had been about Han's. She wondered if Vader had yet made a decision about how to deal with the Emperor's inevitable arrival. She was perplexed by his insistence on waiting for Luke: he spoke of the young pilot as though he were the boy's father as well. Perhaps he was simply delusional, she thought, and intended to go around telling every Force-sensitive young person in the known galaxy that he had sired them in hopes of building an army of loyal followers. A tendency towards delusion would explain why Vader thought she was an ideal candidate for his troops: she would die before she ever helped him.

Once again trapped and alone, Leia prayed that her provocation of Palpatine would serve to destroy Vader while protecting Luke. She was under no illusion that she would survive any assault the Emperor made on his apprentice, but at this point she was living on borrowed time anyways. Better to go down saving Luke than continuing living in Vader's custody.

Her dark thoughts eased slightly as she thought about Luke, how eager he had been to meet her as she languished in the infirmary on Yavin. She owed him everything for finding her droids and her desperate request for help. He had told her that shooting Vader off his back over the Death Star repaid any debt she might have owed him, but Leia was unconvinced. He had destroyed any hope for a normal future when he ran away to the Rebellion. Surely that was worth more thanks than a quick covering shot.

"Leia?"

Leia looked around wildly. It was Luke's voice, as clear as if he were standing right next to her. The hallucinations that had plagued her since her incarceration on the Death Star must be returning.

"Leia?" Luke's voice was more insistent now. She covered her ears, willing the specter to go away. "Leia, hear me!" It was so real….

"Luke?" she finally whimpered, unable to ignore the presence in her mind any longer.

"Leia, I'm coming for you. Where are you?"

It was clearly a hallucination. No one was coming for her. She was alone. The warm presence began to fade as she took a deep, shaky breath.

"Where are you, Leia? Please!" She saw the canyons, the heat, and the sand in her mind's eye. No. If it was Luke, he mustn't come for her.

"It's a trap!" she suddenly shrieked, shoving the presence out of her mind.

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Luke sat cross legged on the floor of the Falcon's lounge, having sent the rest of the passengers into the cockpit. The anxiety emanating from Bail, Breha, and….Han? was too distracting. He took a deep, cleansing breath and pictured Leia's face in his mind. As he sank deeper into meditation, he saw her curled on the floor of a room in a ship, huddling with a blanket in the dark. "Leia!" he called.

A few minutes later he walked shakily into the cockpit. "She pushed me away," he said somberly. "She said it was a trap."

"Luke…" Breha started, before Bail put a hand on her shoulder to silence her.

"Could you tell where she is?" he asked.

"I'm not certain," Luke said, "But I think it was Tatooine."

"Kriff," Solo muttered, "Seriously?"

"What's wrong with that?" Luke asked indignantly.

"Well, it's just that a certain resident of Tatooine told me that if I ever came back, he'd cut off my…" Chewie finished the sentence in Shyriwook with a short laugh, making the queen blush a deep crimson.

"What?" Bail asked, wanting in on the joke. Breha leaned over and whispered a clarification, and Bail smiled.

"Seems like a reasonable idea to me," he said, looking meaningfully at Solo.

"Care to explain what you mean by that…your highness?"

"I just mean that you seem to be taking a strong interest in my daughter, young man. Carlist told me she spent several days alone with you on your ship."

"First of all, she wasn't alone with me. Chewie was here. Second of all, what was I supposed to do- call Yavin and tell them to send a chaperone because I found some girl living under a rock who wouldn't tell me who she was?"

"If it is all business, why are you still looking for her then?" Solo scowled, pausing to think of a good comeback when Luke interrupted them.

"None of this is helping Leia. Let's go to Tatooine. Han, you can just stay in the ship if you're worried. I'm going to find her."

Solo began punching coordinates into the navicomputer, muttering under his breath about crazy wizards and overprotective fathers. "What about it being a trap? Do you know what that meant?"

Luke gave a serious nod. "I think I do. I just hope I'm right about where she is."

"I'm sure you are," Breha said, shaking Bail off when he again tried to stop her from continuing. "Luke, there's something you should know. You and Leia…you're siblings. Twins, to be precise."

"We…what?" Dumbfounded, Luke leaned back against the cockpit wall. "Twins? How do you…."

"You were separated at birth for your own safety," she continued. "I'm sorry we haven't told you until now...but you have to trust the connection between the two of you. If you say she's on Tatooine, then she's on Tatooine."

"But does that mean….Vader?" Breha raised her eyebrows in surprise that Luke knew the details of his heritage. The Jedi master must have revealed it to him.

"Yes."

"Does Vader know?"

"Yes."

"Does Leia know?"

"Sort of. She didn't seem….convinced."

"Oh." Luke put his head in his hands, suddenly overwhelmed. "Oh."

Han was only half listening to the conversation, busy getting ready for their jump to hyperspace, and only caught on as Luke fell into a contemplative silence. "Wait a second, did you say he's Leia's brother?"

"I did," Breha responded. Her husband sat stonefaced, disapproving of her decision to reveal so much so quickly. "Obi Wan Kenobi asked us to raise her."

"Huh." Solo shrugged. The galaxy was a weird place. "And what was the deal about Vader?" Breha pressed her lips together, and Solo got the hint not to pry any further. "Okay, well, here we go. And if anybody sees Jabba the Hutt, tell him my name is Lando Calrissian."

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"You were in contact with Luke." Vader's comment was a statement, not a question. Leia looked away, refusing to answer. "He will join us, soon, before the Emperor arrives."

Her gut twisted at Vader's assertion. She wanted the Emperor to get there first, to destroy them before Luke could become entangled. "So the Emperor is coming here?"

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Vader asked tightly. "Yes, I can feel his presence growing closer. He has left Imperial Center to confront me…us…himself."

"So why don't we leave? We have a head start, don't we?"

"You have forced a confrontation, daughter. Don't back down now."

Leia chewed a nail, pushing herself further back into the copilot's chair in the cockpit. Vader had retrieved her as soon as she pushed away the contact from Luke, his fingers wrapping around the same bruised spot on her upper arm that he favored as a handle.

"I'm hungry," she said sullenly, trying to change the subject. He held back a retort, realizing that she didn't have the same sort of automated life support apparatus as he did.

"There is a galley. Help yourself." She slipped out, grabbing a ration bar and returning to the cockpit. "You need more than that, girl. You're skin and bones."

"What does it matter? We'll both be dead soon."

He stood and looked at her appraisingly. She'd been back among some semblance of civilization long enough that she should have been able to put a few pounds back on, but the Rebels must have done little to care for her after her exile on Endor. Her bone structure was sturdier than that of her bird-like mother, and the effect of months of under nourishment showed that much more starkly on her body. He stalked into the back, finding some packets of a sweet pudding tucked away in a cupboard and brought those back to her. "Eat. Now."

Grudgingly, she took the thin tubes and squeezed the sickly sweet substance into her mouth. "I've had better."

As she finished, Vader yanked her to her feet. "Time to continue with your training. Go get that thing you call a lightsaber and meet me outside."

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Solo watched quietly as Luke took out the remote and helmet, setting up another lightsaber drill. The Kid was far more methodical than he had been under the tutelage of Kenobi during their flight from Tatooine, deflecting all of the shots even when he turned up the frequency.

"So that little retreat was helpful, I see," he commented as Luke flipped off the remote. "You're pretty good with that thing."

Luke still didn't crack a smile. He'd been far more serious and somber since they picked him up, and Solo wondered if the Kid would ever open up about the details of his experience.

"Han, when we get to Tatooine, I need to go find Leia alone," Luke said finally.

"No way, Kid. I don't care if it is your home planet. If Vader's there, you need back up."

"I have to do this, Han…please understand."

"What about Leia?" Han asked, annoyed, "You're going to risk her life just so you can have some predestined mano-a-mano with the most dangerous man in the galaxy?"

Luke sighed. "Of course not. But she's not helpless herself, you know."

"I just don't want to see her get hurt. Not after all this. She doesn't deserve it."

Luke smiled for the first time since his retrieval. "You like her."

Han felt his cheeks reddening. "No, not like that! I just….you know….I don't like to see people get hurt! And she's got a bad combination of both crazy and brave working against her."

"Reminds me of someone I know," Luke said with a grin.

"How is this an appropriate conversation? She's your sister!"

"She talked about you an awful lot when we were hanging out in the infirmary on Yavin, you know."

"Really?" Solo was surprised. After he'd forcibly confined her in the bunkroom after she unwittingly ripped apart a piece of his ship, he thought she would have done nothing but complain about him when they got to Yavin.

"She said you had a good heart."

"And…" Solo sensed there was more.

"Well, and that you were as annoying as a nerf flea. And bossy."

"Nice. So are you going to let me come with you?"

"No. I'm sorry, Han."

Annoyed, Solo stalked back into the cockpit. Well, Leia wasn't the only one who could be sneaky….

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"You're not even holding it properly."

Leia looked down at her hands, where she clutched the half charred lightsaber between two fists. She shrugged.

"Give it to me." Vader snatched it out of her hand and held it tightly, pointing the business end at himself. "Reach out as though you were going to shake my hand."

Leia stuck out her hand flat, waiting for Vader. He pressed the handle into her palm, using his left hand to wrap her fingers around the hilt. "There. Now turn it on." Leia flipped the switch, flinching slightly as the blue blade erupted from the metal cylinder she clutched.

"Have you learned fencing?" Leia shook her head. "Good. Less bad habits to break." He moved around to stand behind Leia, and she stepped away. "Fine." Vader stepped around and ignited his own blade. "You can learn by doing then." Without warning, he lunged at Leia, nodding with approval as she held up her blade to ward him off.

After the fifth time he'd knocked the blade out of her hands, adjusting himself carefully to avoid taking any of her fingers with it, Vader gave up and sent Leia back inside the shuttle. He took a moment to savor the Tatooine sunsets, looking with amusement at the krayt dragon skeleton next to their ship which had already been picked clean by desert scavengers. In the back of his mind, he could feel his master's furious presence growing closer and closer. "Hurry, son," he whispered into the sky. "Hurry."


	34. Chapter 34

"Pretty impressive from this distance, isn't it?" Solo commented, noticing that the Organas were gaping speechless at the burnt planet below as it glowed under the twin suns. "Not many systems like this out there, at least not with civilization."

Breha tore herself away from the view and turned to Luke. "Can you find Leia? Is she down there?"

He nodded. "You all should stay in the ship. I'll signal when I've found her so you can pick her up."

"Is that it, Kid?" Solo asked incredulously, "You think Vader's just going to let her walk away?"

"Well, no, not really. But I'm hoping to distract him enough so you can pull her out."

"What about you, Luke?" Breha asked. "We're not just going to leave you."

Luke's expression was stern. "I have to do this. Leia is in far greater danger right now."

"You mean you have to face Vader?" she responded icily, "You know, I've never understood this Jedi obsession with destiny."

Luke knew she was responding as a mother, and thought bittersweetly that his Aunt Beru would have made much the same comment were she still alive.

"I don't think he'll harm me," he reassured her.

"Don't be foolish," Breha snapped. "He hurt Leia. Of course he would hurt you." She sighed loudly. "Luke, please don't do this alone." He saw tears in eyes.

"I'm sorry." He gave her a long hug, savoring the warmth of her arms. "The Force will be with me, I promise."

Breha clung tightly to him. "I hope so."

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Leia and Vader looked up at the sky simultaneously- him with gleeful satisfaction and her with horror.

"Prepare to leave as soon as he gets here," Vader ordered her, extinguishing his lightsaber and walking back towards the shuttle. "There's not much time."

Leia planted her feet, shaking her head slowly. "No. I won't let you hurt him."

"I'm not going to hurt him, Leia." He was growing more exasperated with the girl by the day. "Do they teach nothing at those academies of yours on Alderaan? Logic? He is your brother."

"You're crazy," she sneered at him. "Next thing you'll say that Governor Tarkin was my secret baby sister."

"Why are you so keen to deny the truth?"

"Why?" Leia snarled, "Why? Why don't you think about it, you beast? You beat me, drug me, try to blow up my planet, leave me to starve to death in some godsforsaken forest, and then you claim you're not only my father, but my friends, and because of that we should just somehow pretend nothing bad ever happened and join up in some wild Emperor-killing superhero team?" Vader stepped back, the physical force of her anger pushing at him. "And then you kidnap me, leave me to get eaten alive by a giant lizard, and try to cut my limbs off while insulting my physical abilities. I hate you. I want you to die. That is why. Understand now?"

He could feel the Dark Side pulsing in her, fighting like a dragon trying to free itself from its egg. If only she would turn that power against the Emperor.

"Daughter, I…" Vader started, before Leia ignited her lightsaber and charged at him with a scream of fury.

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"Just past that next dune, in the canyons," Luke said, pointing out a spot as they skimmed the desert surface. "I'll walk from there. Don't want to give Vader warning that I'm coming."

"Hey, at least take a little more firepower," Han said with a frown as Luke tucked only his lightsaber into his belt. The captain was relieved that they were at least parking relatively far from the Dune Sea region where Jabba and his minions held sway. He settled the Falcon down in a cloud of sand and dust as Luke wrapped his face in a white cloth.

"No, but thanks, Han. I've got the transmitter- I'll signal when I'm ready for you to come."

"Okay….Kid?"

"Yeah?" Luke turned around, seeing that the entire crew of the ship, droids included, had come to the door to see him off with anxious faces.

"May the Force be with you."

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Parrying a slash of the blade intended to take him out at the knees, Vader mused that Leia had obviously been paying more attention to his lessons than he realized. She was getting better at channeling the Dark Side as well, using her anger at him to drive her strikes. Twice he'd had to retreat slightly as she nearly caught one of his extremities on her blade. The irony of that particular blade removing any of his limbs did not amuse him.

Distractedly, he wondered where a girl raised as a proper princess would have picked up the string of curses she was leveling at him as they fought. Too much time gallivanting with Rebels, presumably. Once this was over he would cure her of that. Vader had little place for bad language.

He stepped onto a rock, leaping up to push her blade down and out of range of his head as his boot lost traction on the fine sand. He caught himself quickly using the Force, but Leia used his momentary loss of focus to leap to one side, swinging back her blade for a killing blow.

"No!"

Leia felt the saber pulled back, gently but firmly away from Vader, and turned with a snarl to see the source of the voice.

"Luke! Get out of here!"

Luke gave her a perplexed look as she stepped away from Vader, keeping her blade pointed at him. "I'm here to rescue you."

"You have to go. They're going to kill you." She turned back to see Vader striding towards them, and launched herself at him again, driving him away from Luke.

Her eyes haunted him. No longer the deep brown pools that had charmed him as they sat and laughed on Yavin, she now stared with a sickly yellow gaze that made her appear as though she was rotting from the inside. He could feel the waves of darkness flowing from her as she battled Vader, desperately trying to keep him away from Luke. He couldn't let her kill their father. If she did, he might never get her back.

"Leia, no," he shouted, throwing himself into the fight. Surprising Leia and Vader both, he brought up his own saber to block hers. "You don't know what you're doing."

The girl turned in shock to stare at Luke. "I almost had him," she said quietly. "I almost had him." Her eyes flashed, and suddenly she pulled back her blade to swing at Luke. "How dare you!" she shouted as he held his own lightsaber in a two handed grip to ward her off. "I almost had him."

Luke scuttled back. "Leia, you don't understand. Please listen!" With a wordless scream, she pursued him, her blade making brief contact with his arm and singeing the skin. Luke yelped in pain as Leia raised her saber again.

Suddenly they were both tumbling to the ground. Vader marched up and snatched Leia by the collar of her jumpsuit, dragging her off Luke and snatching the lightsaber out of her hand. The boy pushed himself up on his elbows, watching Leia wriggle in the Dark Lord's grip.

"Are you all right, Luke?" he asked calmly, pointing to the blistered red mark on his forearm.

"I'll be fine….Father." Vader nodded in recognition.

"So you know." He looked meaningfully at Leia. "And have accepted the truth."

"I've accepted the truth that you were once Anakin Skywalker," Luke clarified. He began to push himself to his feet, and then leapt up as Vader reignited his own lightsaber, bringing it towards the struggling girl. "Father, no! What are you doing?!"

"Teaching my daughter to respect her family," Vader said, bringing the glowing blade against Leia's back, pulling it away before he could do any more harm than a burn. She shrieked, and Vader dropped her to the ground. Luke knelt beside her, smothering a smoldering flame on her shirt then looking up with horror at their father. "She won't do that again, son."

Leia curled onto the ground, whimpering as Luke took a closer look at her injury. The fact that it seemed to be hurting her badly was actually good, he knew, because it meant it wasn't deep. But the act was hardly going to help Luke convince his sister that she shouldn't try to kill their father. He took her hand, squeezing it gently as he helped her up.

"Get in the ship," Vader ordered. "Both of you. The Emperor is nearly here."

"We're not going with you," Luke told him, keeping a tight hand around Leia. "If you want to leave, go."

"Luke, no!" Leia sucked in a ragged breath. "He'll just come for us again. We have to finish this."

"I am not leaving without you," Vader interrupted her. "I will have my family whole again."

"And did that work before?" Luke asked, "With our mother? Dragging her with you against her will?"

Leia pushed herself in front of Luke as Vader strode angrily up to his son. The Dark Lord shoved her out of the way, pointing a finger in Luke's face.

"I never dragged your mother into anything. I loved her."

"And is this what she would want, then? Threatening her children?"

"She would want us to be together," Vader roared, reaching out to grab Luke by the arm. The boy lithely jumped back, drawing his lightsaber and keeping a careful eye on Leia, who stood a few meters away, watching them silently. "She would want us to be a family!"

"Never!" Abruptly Leia was charging at them again, armed with nothing but her own fury. Her body seemed to glow with power and, before Luke could even speak her name, forks of lightning flew from her fingers, slamming Vader into the ground. Her eyes were wide, hair standing nearly on end as she let out another burst. Vader moaned, his body quivering under the onslaught.

Luke looked wildly between his sister and father, unsure of what to do. Trust the Force, Yoda had said, but the Force felt shadowy here, as though storm clouds gathered overhead. Finally he ran to his father's side as Leia paused her attack, panting woozily.

A faint smell of roasted flesh hung in the air as Vader groaned, trying to push himself upright. Luke put an arm around his shoulder and manhandled him into a sitting position. Vader's breath came unevenly, short then long, as he struggled to regain his composure.

"This has to stop," Luke said quietly to him, before turning to his sister.

"Leia, please. You're only hurting yourself." Luke held up his hands, placing himself between the two combatants.

"It doesn't matter," she said in voice choked with sobs. "He has to die."

"He doesn't," Luke said gently, starting to walk towards her. "What would that accomplish? Other than to destroy you?"

"If I don't kill him, he'll destroy me," Leia responded, tears starting to pour down her face. "It's the only way, Luke. I'm sorry." He could see her concentrating, gearing up for another assault.

"Leia, this isn't you," he said desperately, stepping backwards to interpose himself between her and Vader. "It's the fear talking. The Dark Side. It's eating you, Leia."

Trembling, she held her hands out, pointing towards Vader. "Move, Luke. I don't want to hurt you."

"You can't let fear win out, Leia. It can only overpower you if you let it."

"Move, Luke! I don't want to hurt you!" She was practically screaming the words.

"Why?" Luke's voice was quiet.

"Because…..because you're my brother." Leia let out a gasping sob. "You're my brother and I love you and I don't want to hurt you. So move!"

"No, Leia." Luke moved closer to Vader and stood resolutely between his sister and his father. "You have to choose. What's greater- your love for me, or your fear of him?" He glanced back at Vader, who was shakily pushing himself to his feet. Leia watched him, trembling as Luke stared at her, praying she would make the right decision, knowing his life was forfeit if she didn't. "What is greater- love or fear?"

She dropped to her knees, opening her mouth to respond when a light filled the canyon behind them, followed by an explosion that rumbled the ground like an ancient monster awaking from the bowels of the planet.


	35. Chapter 35

"Uh oh." Solo broke the long silence that had settled like a fog over the Falcon. Chewie grunted interrogatively at him, and then glanced down at the display board, making some quick adjustments.

"What is it?" Bail asked nervously, trying to see exactly what the Wookiee was looking at on the display.

Solo shook his head and pointed out the viewport. "Not there. There." Bail looked up, his eyes widening.

A pair of Star Destroyers cut through the sky above them, close enough to the lower atmosphere to make out the wedge shaped silhouettes. A shadow appeared above them as a third destroyer, dwarfing its escorts, followed along, drawing closer with the ominous certainty of summer whirlwind.

"What the hell…" Solo started. "That thing is kriffing huge." Chewie grunted in agreement.

"We have to go after Luke and Leia," Bail said sharply. "Vader must have called in his troops."

"Yeah, I think you're right," Solo said, moving to start the Falcon's engines. "Hang on- we're going to have to do some fancy flying. Those turbolasers are definitely in range and the Falcon's shields can only handle so much." He patted the control panels affectionately. "Hang in there, girl."

The repulsors bounced as Solo lifted off cold, gunning the throttle in the direction Luke had hiked. "Chewie," he said, "Go get ready for a pick up. We might need to lift them in through the lower porthole." Chewbacca stood, preparing to head for the center of the ship when they were buffeted by a blast that burst from one of the destroyers, sending shards of glassy melted sand spraying out of the canyon and across the desert. Breha screamed.

"What are they doing? They're going to take out their own guy…" Solo muttered.

"I imagine that's the intent," Bail responded coldly, settling into the copilot's seat as Chewbacca continued back towards the porthole.

"Not following you here," Han responded, guiding the ship around a pair of high mesas.

"The Jedi wanted us to keep Leia and Luke away from Vader and the Emperor to protect them," Bail explained, watching Solo carefully as he gently eased the Falcon closer to the ground. "I think Vader was going to try to use them to depose the Emperor."

"So now old Palpy is having his revenge?" He pointed to a second control panel in front of Bail. "By the way, you know how to fly? Wanna help me out here?"

"I thought you'd never ask," responded Bail with a tight smile, "Awaiting your orders, Captain."

"Slow us down to 30 knots," Solo said. "I'm not sure how we're going to find them in all this." The dust clouds kicked up by the star destroyer's barrage were thicker as they closed in on the canyon edge. From his experience on Tatooine, Solo knew these canyons crisscrossed for hundreds of kilometers like cracks in glass across the surface. The Kid could be anywhere.

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The force of the blast flung Luke into Leia, sending them both flying headlong towards the canyon wall. Instinctively, Luke wrapped his body around his sister as hot sand poured down on them. As the reverberations quieted, he stood, coughing in the dust.

"What was that? Did you do that?" he asked, trying to keep the accusation out of his voice. Leia shook her head wildly, trying to get her ears to stop ringing.

"It's the Emperor," she shouted. She pointed upwards, where a shadow was beginning to blot out the suns, plunging the canyon into darkness. "It's my fault. We have to get out of here."

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Vader lost consciousness as the blast threw him into one of the canyon walls, partially burying him under a deluge of small boulders. A moment later, he awoke, searching the filthy air desperately for a sign of his children. The fight with Leia faded into the back of his memory as he screamed their names into the cloud of dirt. He saw a shadow to one side and turned his head, wiping grit off his mask as he tried to discern the image. For just a moment, he thought he could see his mother standing there, calm in the swirling dust, holding her arms out to him. Another blink and the image vanished.

He screamed again into the dust, fighting his way forward. He'd already lost everything: must he lose his children again too? In a blaze of fury and terror, he flung the sand and dirt out of his way using the Force, delving deeper into the canyon. There….he thought, the terror of loss squeezing his head like a vise….voices.

"Love is stronger than fear." It was Luke, his words carrying on the blast driven wind. "When fear takes over, you think you're helping those you love, but you're really driving them away. You have to look to the light."

Padme, he thought, remembering the images of her serene body marched solemnly down the streets of Theed before her burial. It was my fault. I killed you. And now his daughter wouldn't even acknowledge him. He'd only been trying to do the right thing. He relaxed his hands, letting the winds swirl around him unchecked once more, and made his way back to the shuttle. There was something he needed to do.

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"Not without Father." Luke grabbed her hands, turning her to look into his eyes. "Please, Leia. You were going to let him live. I know you were." She looked down, tears in her eyes. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. You're so strong, Leia. But we have to do this. We can't leave him."

"I won't forgive him," she shouted, following Luke back into the maelstrom of dust. "I'm doing this for you."

"That's all I would ask."

"Just so we're clear."

They pulled their shirts over their faces, blinking away grit as they made their way back towards the shuttle and the clearing where they had last seen Vader.

"He was up," Leia said, looking over her shoulder. "What makes you think he couldn't get himself out? What makes you think he isn't coming after us?" She began scanning wildly, gripping Luke's hand like a vise. "He could be right behind us."

Luke draped an arm around her, pulling her close. "Don't be afraid. Remember, love is stronger than fear."

"I'm not quite sure what the practical application of that platitude is right now," Leia muttered grumpily.

"Just don't let the fear overwhelm you. Feel the Light." He held her closer, guiding her forward as he flooded her with the Force. "See…" She could only nod silently.

They nearly ran smack into the side of the shuttle, and used their hands to probe the hull until they found the telltale seam of the entry. Not wanting to search for controls, Luke used the Force to yank it open, leading Leia inside.

Leia sucked in her breath sharply as she heard a noise from the cockpit. Luke waved for her to stay where she was and went to investigate.

He was sprawled in the pilot's seat, his breath still uneven as he fumbled for the controls. "Luke," he said, not turning around. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Luke responded stiffly.

"And your sister?"

"I think she's all right too."

"Palpatine is coming," he sighed.

"I know."

"It's my fault. It's all my fault."

Luke chuckled mirthlessly. "Funny, Leia said the same thing."

"I never should have hurt her. I only wanted to save her."

"Father?" Luke stepped over to the pilot's seat with a concerned look. "What do you mean?"

"It was my dreams. She was going to die. I thought I had to do it."

"Father, I don't understand." Luke's mind went to Yoda's story of his father's fall from grace. Was he talking about Leia, or their mother?

The sound of a light footstep caught Luke's attention, and he noticed that Leia had crept into the cockpit to join them. As she caught sight of the black suited man slumped in the pilot's seat, and Leia leapt back, pressing herself against the wall.

"What's going on?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know," Luke responded.

"I won't let him take you," their father rasped. "He took me, but I won't let him take you." He reached a hand into his belt, and pulled out the lightsaber he had confiscated from Leia. "Here. You might need this someday….if you are to train, like your brother."

She took the proffered weapon gingerly, as though it might be a trick, and he collapsed back into the seat. "Listen to your brother, Leia. Don't be like me, weak and afraid. That's what turned me into this. The Dark Side lost me everything. Don't let it do the same to you."

"But…it's too late," Leia protested, "The Emperor…."

"Leave him to me," her father responded firmly. "Just….please. Let me touch you, just once, before you go."

Luke knelt down, squeezing his hand firmly as Leia stayed firmly pressed up against the wall. "Be careful, Father."

"Son, take good care of your sister," He told him. "It's up to you now."

Luke looked pleadingly at Leia. "Do it for me," he whispered.

Tentatively, she held out a hand towards her father, trying not to shudder as he peeled off his glove, revealing a palm webbed with scars. Gently, he set his hand on top of hers. She prayed that he wouldn't try to say that he loved her, or to apologize now. Empty words would only hurt more.

"Now go," he said. "Go."

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The moment the twin's feet hit the dusty ground, they heard the shuttle's engines rumble to life. Dashing away, Leia turned to Luke. "Where is he going? And how the hell are we going to get out of here?"

"I brought a ride," he grinned, pulling her forward while watching anxiously as the shuttle sped in the direction of the enormous ships hovering above them.

"I think I see it," Leia smiled, as a familiar ship appeared over the edge of the canyon. She stepped forward and waved as it dipped down for a landing. Luke looked back, suddenly wary.

"Lei-" He only got a syllable of her name out before one of the star destroyers fired again, blasting rock from the side of the canyon and sending it tumbling down on them.

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Solo couldn't contain his grin when he made out the two dust covered figures hiking through the center of the canyon. Both pure brown from head to toe, it was obviously the Kid and the Princess. As an unnecessary confirmation, Leia began waving, her broad smile showing through the dust coating her face. "Almost there," he thought, settling down to land and reaching forward to disengage the shields.

Usually it was the fact that he was a second ahead of the game that saved Solo's life, but in the case his delay was what preserved them all to fight another round. Another shot from the star destroyer crackled around them, straining the shields almost to failure as he saw rocks falling like rain around them.

Frozen, he watched as the cliff face took the brunt of the shot, cracking under the heat and pressure and falling in a heap right where his friends stood waiting.


	36. Chapter 36

Luke wiggled his fingers and toes, shifting a few centimeters to relieve the sharp pressure of the rock pinned against his shoulder. He took some small comfort in the realization that his appendages seemed to be working. He blinked some of the dust out of his eyes and turned his head as far as he could in the direction where he had last seen his sister. She was in slightly better shape than him, having ducked down before the cascade of falling rock buried them. She was seated in an air pocket between two boulders, her hands tucked behind her neck in last desperate attempt to protect herself from the landslide.

"You okay?" Luke croaked, coughing out brown spittle.

"You mean other than being trapped under ten tons of rocks?" Leia responded with a weak smile. "I suppose so." She squinted to get a better look at him. "You're stuck."

Another rumble sounded above them, sending down a shower of pebbles.

"We've gotta get out of here," Leia said, her eyes wide as she shifted into a tight crouch. "Let me…"

"No." Luke saw her closing her eyes to concentrate. "Leia, using the Dark Side to get us out of here won't accomplish anything."

"Don't be stupid, Luke," Leia snapped back at him as the rocks above shifted again. "You'll die. We'll both die."

"I'd rather die that have you claimed by the Dark Side," Luke said simply. Leia stared up at him, tears in her eyes.

"Not like this," she whispered. "Please, Luke, let me. It can't end like this."

He gave her a warm smile, gasping as another small tremble pressed one of the boulders tightly against his foot. "It won't. Here, just let me help you." He closed his eyes, concentrating on her presence and the Force all around them. Though it appeared barren, even the Tatooine desert was teeming with life, and Luke felt the power all around him. He heard voices, simultaneously right next to him and impossibly far away. "Trust the Force, you must, young Luke." With a slight tremble, the rocks above him began to lift, enough to free his arms. Leia reached up and grabbed his hand, watching in wonderment as beams of sunlight began to penetrate their rocky prison.

"Help me," Luke said to his sister, squeezing her hand as he opened his mind to her. He could feel her struggle, fear still trying to drag her into the abyss. "You can do this, Leia. Find your courage." She straightened her shoulders, looking into his eyes as she took a deep breath and buried her terror, letting her power in the Force join with his. Together, they carefully sent the rocks tumbling harmlessly down into the canyon.

Luke used his arms to push himself up on top of the rock pile, tripping slightly from exhaustion as he knelt down to pull Leia up behind him.

"Let me." Luke turned around, seeing Solo standing behind him. Relieved, he stumbled down the slope towards the ship as Solo lifted Leia to her feet, offering a hand as they tripped along down after her brother. As they reached the canyon floor, he swiftly picked her up, ignoring her protests as he followed Luke at a dead run towards the Falcon.

"We're not out of the woods yet, sweetheart," he said, setting her down on the bench in the lounge unceremoniously before he tore into the cockpit. "Luke, you're on the quad lasers. Chewie, see how much power you can divert to the shields." Shuddering, the ship lifted slightly and Solo zipped away down the canyon.

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Vader, or Anakin, he wasn't really sure anymore, took a deep breath, trying to rid himself of a crushing headache as he guided his shuttle in a beeline for the Imperial flagship. His intended flagship, he thought bitterly for a moment, before realizing that he simply didn't care. None of this mattered. The power, the ability to strike terror into the hearts of even the bravest men and women with his mere presence: it was never what he wanted. It was just a consolation prize, and a terrible one at that. It had cost him his family, any possibility of ever being happy. He hardly recall what happiness even was.

He'd made so many mistakes, losing his mother, losing Padme, losing Leia. He laughed bitterly as he thought about how Luke had saved his life. The boy only stopped Leia from killing him because he hadn't had the chance to get to know Vader. Had he been more familiar with his father, he probably would have helped Leia carry out her execution.

He sank into the familiar comfort of despair, the pain that had sustained him for so long.

Then he felt a ripple of terror tremble through the Force. He recognized the presence of his children, again in danger. He gripped the controls of the shuttle, considering turning back, when he sensed a bright light enveloping the twins. Love.

First it was a tiny spark, and then the power grew like sunbeams at the start of a summer day. Anakin thought of Padme, the smile on her face as he caressed her belly, feeling the life….lives…within. He thought of Shmi, holding him in the middle of the night and stroking his hair as they slept. For a moment, he found himself intensely jealous of his children. He knew he was undeserving, but he wanted to feel that again, to know that someone cared so deeply for him.

The star destroyer loomed in front of him. His plan was unchanged since he had taken off from Tatooine, but as he grew closer to the Emperor, the pain and fear and anguish that the old Sith's presence wrought fought back against the transformation taking place in his soul. He couldn't let the Emperor have him again…he couldn't.

"You won't."

He looked up, seeking out the source of the voice. There, in the copilot seat, a glimmering light coalesced, revealing an image of an old man dressed in the traditional robes of a Jedi. "Anakin," he said gently.

"Obi Wan." His face was changed, weathered from years and hardship, but his presence was undeniable. "Obi Wan, I'm….I'm sorry."

"I know." Obi Wan settled back into the chair, gazing ahead at the sight before them. "Anakin, I never stopped loving you as my brother. Never."

"How is that possible?" A lump formed in his throat, and for a moment he wished to be alone. Forgiveness at this point was almost more painful than condemnation.

"Someday you will understand. But that was why I cared for them. I loved you, and I loved your children."

"Thank you." His voice was just a whisper, still impossibly deep through the mask.

"And now we have one last mission."

"I thought you hated flying."

"I do. Especially with you."

"Well, you can feel vindicated this time," Anakin told him. "As you so often predicted, we are indeed going to crash."

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Palpatine stood in the bridge of the Executor, relishing the terror his presence brought to the crew. They were tracking two ships, one containing Vader and one containing his children. Palpatine ordered both to be brought in unharmed, their occupants imprisoned in special cells that the Emperor had designed himself. He had already settled on Vader's punishment- the former Jedi would watch his children become slaves to the Emperor, and then he would die in agony. It was fitting.

He could sense Vader's turmoil as the shuttle grew closer, reaching tractor beam range. The appearance of a child, then children, was unexpected, but Palpatine thrived on the unexpected. He even grudgingly admitted that the Jedi had been remarkably clever in concealing them for so many years, but he had won in the end. As he always did. He stepped up towards the viewport as the tractor beam activated, swinging towards the small shuttle.

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Anakin found himself slightly amused that while Obi Wan was already dead, beyond the reach of any possible danger from a space battle, he still gripped the armrests as Anakin juked the shuttle downwards, whipping up to escape the grasp of the tractor beam and zooming in closer to the hull of the enormous ship. He shifted power to the shuttle's shields, expecting a barrage of blaster fire, but none came.

"So he's trying to capture me now," he muttered. He dodged to the right, zipping under the massive ship and reappearing on the starboard side.

Obi Wan chuckled. "I dare say you're enjoying yourself." Concentrating, Anakin didn't respond, but shoved the throttle forward to send them into a stomach wrenching drop. He checked the shields as he pulled hard around to face the star destroyer head on.

"Vader!" Palpatine's voice echoed in his head, and Obi Wan looked at him with concern. "Come to me, now."

"Yes….master," Anakin spat out, reaching up to shift the shields to the front of the shuttle as he accelerated towards the bridge's viewport.

"Doesn't that thing have shields?" Obi Wan asked, sounding surprisingly nervous for a ghost.

"You underestimate me," his one-time apprentice responded as they drew closer. "It's just the bridge shield we need to think about now."

"Just? I doubt there's enough fire power on this thing to even scar it, much less take it down."

"Master Kenobi," Anakin responded reproachfully, "Aren't you forgetting something?" With an invisible smile behind his mask, Anakin pictured the schematics of the ship. It was intended as his flagship, and he insisted on being deeply involved in its development. Most of the engineers and designers assumed that his constant oversight was based on his mistrust of their work, but in fact he simply enjoyed the puzzle of matching metals to systems to wires. And now he knew exactly where he could make a small adjustment that would send the Empire collapsing like a house of cards. There. Using the Force, he pulled away the power source for the shields, taking a nanosecond to enjoy the sensation of anger, betrayal, and fear boiling off the Emperor before his ship plunged through the viewport, annihilating the bridge in a burst of flames.

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"Father," Luke mumbled, watching out the viewport for any enemy fighters as they dashed through the canyon. He wondered briefly if he should offer to help fly, having traversed this territory at highly unreasonable speeds many times before his departure for the Rebellion. He shivered with a brief chill, and then felt a warm presence wrap itself around him before fading away.

"One down!" he heard Han crow through the comm system. "Not sure what happened, but that big mother is going down!"

"We still have two more to worry about," Luke reminded him tersely, wondering how exactly Solo intended to get them out this time. Then, quietly, he whispered, "thank you, Father."

As the enormous Super Star Destroyer foundered, the vacuum breach to the bridge creating pressure differentials that began splitting the hull, the other two disgorged TIE fighters towards the surface.

"Looks like they've changed strategy," Solo reported. "Incoming."

In the lounge, Leia was leaned against her mother's shoulder, breathing deeply as she too felt the lingering shock of her biological father's death. Bail sat on her other side, stroking her hair gently.

"Could use another gunner!" Solo called back to them. Bail stood.

"Daddy, I can do it," Leia said, pushing herself up.

"Not on your life," Bail responded sternly.

"I'm a better shot than you!" she argued, refusing to sit as the ship rocketed around another bend in the cabin. Bail looked desperately at Breha, who shrugged.

"She's right about that," his wife said. With a victorious grin, Leia slipped off into the gun turret while her parents joined Chewbacca and Solo in the cockpit.

The TIEs swarmed downwards, unloading blaster fire into the canyon as the Falcon raced forward. Their aim was hindered the narrowness of the cliff walls, but they still managed to land a few hits, rocking the freighter as it reached the mouth of the canyons and lifted up over the edge of the Dune Sea. Solo tipped the Falcon up to give Leia a better shot at some of their pursuers, and she expertly took down three of them, the explosions slowing the rest of the wing.

"Hold on," Solo shouted as he pointed the Falcon upwards, heading for space. The star destroyers spotted his move and started to maneuver to intercept them, forcing Solo to double back towards the surface.

Luke picked off two TIEs as another squadron of fighters appeared, forming up to surround the Falcon and push them towards the star destroyer.

"Kriff," Solo muttered, "They're boxing us in." He made an adjustment to the shields, using the cockpit lasers to waste a TIE bomber that came screaming from above.

"Luke," Leia whispered into her headset, "They're going to capture us." Shaking, she pushed herself out of the gun turret and ran for the cockpit.

"I can get us out of here," she said hysterically, as Luke came bursting in behind her.

"What are you going to do?" he asked her suspiciously.

"I can move those destroyers. I can get them out of our way." Her voice was high pitched, almost falsetto as she spoke, her hands trembling violently.

"Leia." Luke put his hands on her cheeks, gently bringing her around to face him. "Remember. You can't use the Dark Side."

"I can't just let us all die! I have to!"

"No one wants that, Leia." Luke looked deeply into her eyes. "I'd rather die than see you fall to the Dark Side."

"Me too," Breha said, squeezing Leia's hand.

"And me," Bail added.

"And me." Leia looked over at Han, surprised.

"Hey, we all gotta go sometime, right?" Chewie grunted in agreement. "I don't know about this whole Force thing, but if the Dark Side is the problem the Emperor has, seems like that might be worse than getting killed."

Leia slumped into her brother's arms. "Okay."

"Besides," continued Solo. "This baby had a few surprises left in her." Without warning, he gunned the engines, bringing them around the Star Destroyer and hovering close to the hull. The TIEs followed in quick pursuit.

"You're going to try to outrun them?" Leia said incredulously.

"Nah, I know a little secret," he told her. They dove back down towards the surface, the TIEs on their tail.

Leia and Luke headed back to the gun turrets, picking off as many of the pursuing fighters as possible. "These guys are good," Leia said as a TIE dodged her rain of blaster fire, "Maneuvering those things in atmosphere isn't easy."

"How do you…oh right," Luke responded, hitting a fighter in the wing and sending it spinning into one of its companions. "Wonder where we're going? I suppose we just have to trust the Force."

"The Force, and Han Solo," Leia added.

They were gliding over the Dune Sea, the TIEs buzzing around like sandflies as Solo guided the Falcon expertly towards his secret target. Bail peeked over his shoulder, seeing nothing but sand. He pressed his lips together, hoping the captain did indeed have a viable plan.

Suddenly a complex of buildings appeared over the horizon, rough and dusty from the elements. Solo took a deep breath and pressed the transmitter to identify his ship as they approached.

"Shelter?" Breha asked skeptically.

"Not quite," Solo responded, diving straight for the main structure.

As if on command, a gun emplacement rose out of the ground and began spraying heavy fire all around them. Solo charged the tower, pulling back and straight ahead into the sky as he nearly smashed into the guns. The TIEs behind him, though skilled at atmospheric flight, were expecting neither the sudden ground fire nor the change in trajectory. As more gun emplacements popped up out of the sand, the TIEs rained down, melting the sand into glass as they exploded on the ground.

"What the…."Bail watched their pursuers fall as they sped away towards open space. "How did you do that?"

"Courtesy of our friend Jabba," Solo responded smugly. "I just hope he realizes who he inadvertently helped out there before the Empire shows up to blow him to slag."


	37. Chapter 37

Epilogue

Mon Mothma had agreed to allocate resources for the liberation of Alderaan ostensibly because of the psychological benefit it would provide to the Alliance after the Emperor's death. As they headed off to take part in the battle though, she quietly told Bail Organa that her decision was also made in part because she knew Leia would undertake the battle on her own if the Alliance didn't step in.

They had braced themselves for heavy losses, but it was a surprisingly straightforward battle in the end, in large part thanks to a young technician who had been working for some time on hacking into the defense platforms that ringed the planet. Without air support, the Rebels' ground invasion, supported by a guerrilla force that came pouring out of the Juran mountains to overwhelm the Imperials main position in Aldera was both simple and successful. The governor assigned to subjugate the planet surrendered quickly when he was surprised in his private office by two young people holding the ancient weapons of the Jedi order.

The news of the liberation spread across the galaxy quickly, and exiles flooded the space around Alderaan, stationing their ship-newly armed with defensive weaponry-in a protective circle around the planet. With the Empire in disarray from the loss of its leaders in a mysterious incident over the remote planet of Tatooine, the planet turned to cleaning up, to mourning its dead, and to celebration.

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Leia looked out the fourth story window of the intensive care wing of the Alderaan Medical Center grumpily. Her reader, loaded with hundreds of books, sat idly on her bedside table next to the holoremote. On the otherside, piles of bouquets were wilting slightly, dropping petals and leaves onto the floor for the cleaning droids to sweep up. Her nurses had offered to move the old flowers, but she insisted on keeping them there, the sweet scent of dying blooms covering up the smell of the hospital.

Against her protests, her parents had forced her to spend the better part of a week in a bacta tank on board the Alliance flagship Home One when the Falcon arrived at the Rebel fleet. Ultimately she acquiesced, feeling guilty at the memory of her mother fighting back tears as she patched Leia up with the Falcon's first aid supplies during their journey to the Rebellion. Admittedly, the long soak in bacta had healed the stinging burn on her back, faded her bruises, and even lightened the long red lightning bolt shaped scar that climbed her neck. Her eyes looked better too, no longer a sickly yellow.

They knew better than to try to keep her back at the fleet during the liberation of Alderaan, and so she was assigned to go with Luke to sneak into the palace and take out the governor. On reflection, she realized that everyone thought that would be an easy part of the mission, but Luke used the opportunity to teach her the fundamentals of Jedi methods. Amazed, she found that using the Force energized her.

There were tears and shouting on both sides when Bail and Breha took her back to the hospital on Alderaan. Leia felt fine, better than she had in months, but Breha blanched when the doctors informed her that she was still severely underweight and anemic. Her parents insisted on staying by her bedside for the first few days, taking turns holding her hands as the other went out to manage the reconstruction of the planet's infrastructure.

After a few more days, Leia ordered them both out, demanding some alone time. For a while, she read, then watched reruns of holocomedies from the Old Republic days. Finally, she just sat, staring out the window.

As the daylight started to fade and she finished her dinner, there was a sharp rap on the door.

"Come in." Holding a small bouquet of flowers, it was Han Solo. Leia's eyes lit up. "Han!"

"Thought you might be interested in some company," he said, pulling a chair up next to her. "I was here bringing some supplies from Rendili and Luke said you were going stir crazy."

"They won't let me out until my blood levels are back up," she said, gesturing at the remains of the meal in front of her. "Nerf steak, three times a day."

"I'm impressed you're letting them take blood," Han said. "I thought no medical droid would want to get within a hundred meters of you."

"Well, actually they're able to do it from the surface here," she said. "They have a neat little device- Alderaan Medical has always been pretty far ahead of the curve on that stuff." She pointed at a handwritten sign hanging prominently above her charts, which read, "No needles." Han smiled and patted her on the hand.

"You've been sleeping okay?"

"Yeah, better. Still not perfect. They've been giving me some pills to help relax, but I don't want to be out of it." She reached into the pocket of her gown and pulled out a crumpled napkin that concealed a small supply of white pills.

"Probably could get a few creds for that on the black market," Han told her. She laughed and put them back away. "But seriously, how are you doing, sweetheart? Luke told me….well, he told me a lot."

"I see." Leia got quiet. "Did he tell you about our father?"

"Yeah." Han brushed a stray hair off her face. "He needed somebody to talk to. That's a rough thing to find out."

Leia nodded, looking down at the sheets covering her legs.

"He said he's pretty sure that he was the one who took out that Super Star Destroyer. The one the Alliance thinks the Emperor was on." She nodded again.

"I felt him die. I thought it would feel…good, or like a relief or something. I'd been terrified of him for so long. But it just felt like, I don't know, a loss."

"Like I said, I don't really understand this Force stuff you all deal in," Solo told her, "But if you want to talk about it, I'm here."

"Thanks." She grabbed a tissue to swipe the tears out of her eyes. "Han, can you do something for me?"

"Sure."

"Get me out of here. I can't take it anymore."

Han stood and looked at her appraisingly. She did look a lot better than a few months previous, when he found her covered in dirt on Endor. Her cheeks were filling out again, and the color had come back to her face. Her hair was clean, neatly braids hanging down either side of her head. And her eyes no longer had that sickly yellow pallor. Instead they were bright and sparkling as she looked at him expectantly.

"Lemme see what I can do," he said with a wink. "See you soon." She smiled as he walked away whistling.

The next day another bouquet was delivered, this one with a wrapped package attached. She waited until the nurses were gone and then opened it quizzically, finding a small card that said 2100 hours attached to a pile of soft red-brown silk. She shook the cloth, revealing a beautifully cut tunic and pants and smiled slyly to herself.

He walked in casually as the sun set, grinning when he saw that she was buried under the blankets. "Ready?" She whipped the blanket off, revealing the outfit he'd sent her.

"Lovely. Now, your Highnessness, how do you propose to get out of here?" She winked and hit a button on the side of her bed.

"Do not disturb," she explained, crossing the room to open the window out onto the balcony. "So long as I'm back by morning, they won't think anything of it." Carefully, she swung a foot over the balcony, clinging to the flowered trellis that extended from the ground to the roof of the building.

"You just don't stop, do you?" Solo said admiringly as he followed her, realizing afterwards that perhaps it would have been a better idea for him to meet her down below. Oh well. It was a lovely night and the structure seemed sturdy enough, assuming no one looked up and wondered why two people were scurrying down the side of the hospital wall like spiders.

Giggling, Leia dropped to the ground and waited for Han to follow. "So where are we going?" she asked as he took her hand and led her towards the speeder garage.

"Little place I discovered," he said. "You Alderaanis do have a few decent places to eat, you know?"

She ducked down in the seat next to him, expecting to be surrounded by her parents' security guards at any moment. Most of the palace personnel were too busy with the rebuilding effort though, and with the defensive emplacements around the planet the Organas felt their daughter was reasonably safe, as long as she made an effort to stay out of trouble. They cruised down a bustling street in the market district, pulling up next to a restaurant filled with people, piano music pouring out of the open front door.

"This is a Corellian place!" she said, laughing, as Solo escorted her inside and neatly slipped her into a dark booth before anyone could recognize his companion. He held up a hand for two Corellian ales and then watched Leia bouncing in time to the music.

"You didn't expect me to take you to eat that rabbit feed you call Alderaani cuisine, did you?" Solo asked her, "You're supposed to be getting your strength up." She just shook her head and sipped her beer as Han sat back and admired her. Amazing the difference a few pounds and turning back to the Light Side of the Force could make.

"What are you looking at, flyboy?" Leia said as the server brought them a platter of food. She looked at the sausages, finding one that looked slightly less greasy and tearing into it.

"Just enjoying the view," he responded with a little smirk.

"How do you stay in such good shape eating stuff like this?" Leia asked, wiping juice from her fingers with a napkin.

"Hey, this is a treat," Han protested. "I usually stick to steak." She laughed again, and he closed his eyes for a second, simply enjoying the sound. She was so different from the suspicious, terrified waif he'd found huddling on Endor, but somehow she had always had that spark. He found himself wondering if he could find an excuse to stay on Alderaan a little longer…

The piano launched into a jaunty version of a traditional Corellian drinking song, and half the patrons stood to join the musician in song. "Care for a dance?" Han offered, expecting Leia to insist on staying concealed. She shocked him by leaping up, and he led her to the dance floor.

The music stayed fast paced for a few minutes, then slowed to a waltz. More couples joined them on the dance floor, clutching each other as they swayed back and forth. Leia cradled closer to Han.

"You know," she said, "The first time I came back here to Alderaan, these three boys helped me sneak back into Aldera."

"And?" Han said, his eyes twinkling.

"I wished you had been there," she said. "They were so….immature."

He burst out laughing and pulled her closer, swinging her into a twirl. As he came back around, he accidentally bumped another couple—belonging to some religious group, he surmised from their head coverings. Or perhaps someone else trying to escape the burdens of everyday life for a few hours.

"Beg your pardon," he said, then blanched as they looked up, surveying him and Leia.

"Captain Solo." Breha Organa was clearly not amused as she detached herself from her husband. "Precisely what are you doing with my daughter?"

The End

A/n

Thanks to everyone who has been reading this, and I hope you enjoyed it. It was my first Fan Fiction and it was a lot of fun to put together. It meant a lot to me to see the positive reactions. I hope to keep writing more- this one was done pretty hastily, and so I'm sure there are edits that could have been made, pacing that could have been more even, characters that could have been better developed. But I'm pretty happy with it, and a little wistful about being done. Thanks again! Radioboca


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